The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it has no plans to increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), better known as petrol, at the pump.
In a brief statement issued late Monday night, the business asked Nigerians to avoid reports of a new price increase for the premium product.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, had on Monday, warned the NNPC Limited against fresh petrol price hike.
However, NNPC Limited Spokesman Muhammad Garbadeen stated in a statement that the firm has no intention of raising the price of fuel for the third time in a row after the withdrawal of the subsidy on May 29, 2023.
“Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPC Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated.
“Please buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPC Retail Stations nationwide,” Garbadeen said.
There seemed to be no respite for Nigerians after President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023.
With the announcement, the pump price of a litre of petrol rose from N184 to N500. About two months later, the price jumped from N500 to over N617 on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, eliciting anger and criticisms from economically stranded citizens.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, had blamed the second petrol price hike on market forces.
Transportation cost has since galloped, and its attendant economic implications felt on food prices, with the Organised Labour protesting the “anti-people policies” of the Tinubu administration on August 2, 2023.
The unprecedented increase in the price of petrol from N184 per litre to over N600 occurred amid the unification of the foreign exchange rates by the Tinubu administration as well as rising inflation rates.