Abuja residents hail drop in price of petrol as stations reduce pump prices
A respondent said, “If the NNPC announcement had been that pump price of petrol be increased by even N1, all these marketers in Lagos and other parts of the country would have claimed it to say the directive include them. But now that between N2 and N4 have been dropped from N145 to now sell fuel for between N141 and N143, you can see see that none of them but in Abuja has reduced his price. That is Nigeria for you and that is why so many of these sadists that we have in charge of our commerce are not happy with people who celebrate that Nigeria has exited from recession. They will be the one to suffer in the end. That is sure because God in now in control,” he said.
Following weekend announcement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of drop in cost of production and export of petrol in the country and subsequent expectation of NNPC that filling stations would reduce their pump price downward from the current N145, some filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Wednesday have commenced compliance with the directive, thereby eliciting the commendation of them by residents of the FCT.
The drop ranged between N141 to N143 from the initial N145 pegged as the maximum amount after a partial subsidy removal was put in place by the government in 2016.
A survey around the Abuja metropolis revealed that the NNPC, A. A. Rano and A. Y. M Shafa filling stations scattered around the FCT had reduced their prices.
At the NNPC Mega Station in Zone 1, where the current price is N143, an elated motorist, Mr Ishaku Zwingina said the reduction, though little, was a welcome development.
”The government pegged the price between N141 to N145, but they (oil marketers) all went for the highest. This reduction shows that there is enough product and has opened up competition.”
Also, Mr Zayyanu Kassim, a motorist at the A. A. Rano filling station on the Kubwa Expressway, said ”I just bought for N141 here.
”I read that the saturation of the market with products by the NNPC is responsible for the drop in price. Kudos to the government.
”Even though the reduction is slight and has taken long, it shows that this administration is committed to the plight of the masses.”
At another filling station, A. Y. M. Shafa, on the Airport Road Abuja, Miss Bimbo Ademola told NAN that, ”I buy from here because it is the cheapest around here. The pump is not adjusted and as a hair dresser, I get value for my money here.”
She said, ”If I fill this my generator with N4,000 it will last me almost a week, depending on patronage, but if they don’t have and I buy elsewhere, it will not be filled and it burns out faster,” she said.
However, other filling stations were still selling the product at N145.
A statement over the weekend by the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, said a sustained, strategic intervention in the supply and distribution of petroleum products had led to the significant price fall of products nationwide.
Ughamadu said the corporation had also stepped up resuscitation of some of its critical pipelines and depots.
He listed them to include Atlas Cove – Mosimi Depot Pipeline, Port-Harcourt Refinery – Aba Depot Pipeline, Kaduna – Kano Pipeline and the Kano Depot, which enhanced efficiency in products distribution.
“Efforts are also ongoing by the NNPC to revamp and re-commission other critical pipelines and depots across the country to further push down the prices of petroleum products for the benefit of consumers,” Ughamadu said.
It should be noted that the drop in the price of fuel is not expected to be felt only in Abuja but no report from other parts of Nigeria, especially Lagos, tells of any marketer who has so reduced his pump price.
A respondent said, “If the NNPC announcement had been that pump price of petrol be increased by even N1, all these marketers in Lagos and other parts of the country would have claimed it to say the directive include them. But now that between N2 and N4 have been dropped from N145 to now sell fuel for between N141 and N143, you can see see that none of them but in Abuja has reduced his price. That is Nigeria for you and that is why so many of these sadists that we have in charge of our commerce are not happy with people who celebrate that Nigeria has exited from recession. They will be the one to suffer in the end. That is sure because God in now in control,” he said.
