Investigations on the compliance of fuel stations with the new pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) have revealed that despite the Federal Government’s directive to filling stations nationwide to revert to N87 per litre following the crash in the prices of crude oil, many fuel marketers were yet to comply.

This emerged as the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), which has the mandate to determine the pricing policy and setting benchmark prices of petroleum products, equally fixed the new Ex-Depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at N77.66 per litre.

Executive Secretary PPPRA, Farouk Ahmed, yesterday, disclosed that the new Ex-Depot price of PMS was sequel to the Federal Government’s downward review of the pump-price of PMS from N97 to N87per litre, with effect from January 19, 2015.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, in consonance with Section 6, Clause 1, of the Nigerian Petroleum Act, noted that the new pump price of fuel was necessitated by the prevailing volatility in the international oil market and the drop in crude oil price.

PPPRA boss, while reviewing the Ex-Depot price of PMS, advised oil marketers to adhere strictly to this new price regime, as the agency, in conjunction with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), would enforce compliance in order to ensure that consumers benefit fully from this new review.

Ahmed said: “In other words, any violation of the prevailing price regime shall attract appropriate sanctions. It is, therefore, our wish to advise Nigerians against any form of panic-buying, as there are enough products in all depots across the country.

“We also wish to assure Nigerians that the PPPRA, in exercise of its mandate, is fully committed to ensuring adequate supply and distribution of petroleum product,” he stressed.

However, some marketers have not complied with the new fuel pump price. Our checks around Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), yesterday, revealed that though some fuel stations had complied, majority were still selling at the old rate.

Our correspondent, who visited Oando at Gado Nasko Road, Kubwa, at about 5:30pm, discovered that the pump price was still N97 per litre.

Besides selling at the old rate, there were long queue of vehicles scrambling to buy the fuel.

Though the station manager was not around, one of the workers, who refused to disclose his name, said the office was still expecting the engineer to revert to the new price.

He said: “We are expecting our engineer to effect the change.”

On the reason for the queue, he said “maybe some stations are hoarding the fuel. We don’t hoard fuel.”

Also, at Ummaratu Nigeria Limited, at Dutse Junction along Kubwa Expressway, it was still the same old story as fuel still sold for N97 per litre.

A petrol attendant, who didn’t want his name in print, said the station was still selling at the old rate because it was yet to finish selling the product it got at N93 per litre.

He said: “We bought at 93 naira per litre and the fuel still has about 250 litres now. So as soon as we finish this one, we will revert the price.”

At the Rainoil Filling Station in Gwarimpa, the investigation showed that the price was N97 as at about 7:00pm yesterday.

A fuel attendant, who said the manager was not available, simply responded thus: “I don’t know why we are selling at 97 naira per litre.”

Again, at NNPC located at Airport Road, Sabon-Lugbe, though there was no queue, the pump price was N97 when our correspondent visited.

However, at the Total Filling Station, Arab Road in Kubwa, the station has already reverted to N87.00.

When our correspondent visited the station at about 5:15pm, the price on the machines was N87.00.

A worker, who spoke to Newswatch Times, said the station has no excuse since the price has been cut down.

On the reason for the little queue, he said it was because there is no enough space for vehicles within the premises.

Investigation by Newswatch Times also showed that owners of the fuel stations in Ibadan, Oyo State were selling at the old price of N97 per litre because of their belief that the current stock of fuel in their individual stations were lifted from the NNPC depot before the Federal Government announced the new pump price.

A petrol attendant with the Total fuel station at Mokola Roundabout in Ibadan said he could not adjust the price without due approval of the owner of the station.

He said: “It is the owner of the station who will instruct our maintenance engineer to adjust the machine to reflect the new pump price and until that is done, I will continue to sell at N97.”

A similar situation was also experienced at Forte Oil Fuel Station at Molete, also in Ibadan, where fuel attendants insisted that they were yet to receive necessary instruction from the owner of the station to adjust the pump price to reflect the new price.

Fuel stations at Ojoo, Moniya, Challenge and several parts of the state capital were still selling at N97 per litre.

Newswatch Times investigations equally revealed that fuel stations in Kaduna metropolis and environs still dispensed fuel between N97 and N100 per litre. At the popular Ahmadu Bello Way and Ali Akilu Road, stations that had the product were selling at N97, while others were closed.

A source at one of the stations on Kachia Road stated that the price decrease took them by surprise and the management would come in later to discuss the new price regime.

Some of the Independent and Major Oil Marketers in Kano were still selling the product for N97 per litre. They pointed out that they would comply to the new price regime, as soon as they exhaust their old stock.

One of the major oil marketers, who declined to disclose his name, argued that, if he promptly complied with the new price regime, the station would operate on deficit, contrary to his intention of setting up the business.

Information gathered revealed that only the NNPC mega stations in the ancient city of Kano dispensed the product at the new rate but the few mega stations existing in the metropolis lack the product.

It was gathered that there was a long winding queue at some mega filling stations that have the product in stock, a sad situation that infuriated so many motorists, who had no alternative than to patronize parallel marketers on the road side at cut throat price.

From all indications, all the road side fuel hawkers want the situation to continue, because it affords them an opportunity to rake in excess profit.

In Abeokuta, only the NNPC mega station at Oke-Mosan, among all the NNPC-franchised stations, adjusted its fuel dispensing machines to N87, while others still stuck to the old pump price of N97.

In Bamfem station at Oke-Sokori, Abeokuta, one of the stations that are yet to change the pump price, one of the officials of the station, who craved anonymity, revealed that they just off loaded two full tanks on Sunday, noting that until they sell the fuel, it would be economically risky to reduce the price from N97 to N87.

He said: “We bought the product we have in stock now at the price that we have to sell at N97. If we sell below N97, we are going to run bankrupt.”

He, however, expressed hope that the station would probably exhaust the product in the next three days after which he said they would adjust the pump price to the new price.

Some motorists have expressed doubt in the sincerity of one of the filling stations along Oke-Sokori/Ibara/Oke-Ilewo axis that the fuel sold in the station is usually below the usual content.

At many of the stations visited in Akure, the Ondo State capital by our correspondent yesterday, the old price was still in use in spite of series of complaints by their customers that the price had been reverted.

Some managers of some of the petrol stations in the town, who craved anonymity, said though they were aware of the new price but they had not got any directive to reduce the price from the management of their stations.

In Port Harcourt, major marketers like the NNPC, Mobile, Total filling stations and some independent marketers were reluctant to sell the product at a loss of N10 per litre as a result of the downward review of the product from N97 to N87.

One of the managers of a private filling station along Aggrey Road, Port Harcourt, who chose anonymity, told Newswatch Times that although they expected the drop, it came sooner than their expectation and so caught them unprepared for the new price.

He complained: “At first we didn’t open our filling station at our usual time of 7.30am today, but when we realised that it was pointless shutting our customers out, we opened around 12noon.”

From Newswatch Times