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The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said that there is a re-introduction of quasi-deregulation, where the government intervenes in the downstream sector as opposed to total deregulation where market forces solely determine operations and prices in the downstream sector.
Nigeria operated quasi-deregulation after former President Muhammadu Buhari on August 16, 2021, assented the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law, which the Senate had passed on July 15, 2021, and the House of Representatives also passed it on July 16, and so ended a long wait since the early 2000s. However, Buhari’s government continued to pay subsidy on fuel.
But President Bola Tinubu, in his augural speech on May 29, 2023 pronounced the removal of fuel subsidy and ushered in total deregulation of the downstream sector which led to increase in fuel pump prices, a high inflation rate and the attendant hardship on Nigerian.
IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Ukadike Chinedu, in an interview with New Telegraph yesterday, said Tinubu’s statement through his special adviser on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, that price of petroleum products would not rise, was an indication of the reintroduction of subsidy or quasi- deregulation. Chinedu said: “Based on the report from the spokes-person of Mr President, some of the issues concerning the price of fuel.
Who is subsiding it? “For now, in line with Mr,. President’s directive, NNPCL has not moved the current ex-depot price. Its current ex-depot price continues to be N587.70. For now, the NNPCL is still the sole importer of petroleum products in the country. It is just a few selected importation that was done by Emadeb and some other private companies. But now, the competition has not set in.
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