Former presidential spokesperson, Dr. Doyin Okupe has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and oil marketers to avoid actions that could portray President Bola Tinubu negatively to Nigerians.
In a statement on Friday, titled “Dangote Refinery, NNPCL, Oil Marketers, and the Complexity of PMS Pricing”, Okupe urged oil industry stakeholders to be considerate of the hardships faced by Nigerians.
According to Okupe, recent developments in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) pricing appear aimed at casting the government, which no longer controls fuel pricing, in a poor light, thereby indirectly attributing blame to President Tinubu.
“The opaqueness and lack of transparency in determining the appropriate price of PMS is a national embarrassment,” Okupe stated. “The insensitivity of these agencies to the suffering of Nigerians is inexplicable. The FOB (Free On Board) price of PMS at Rotterdam (as of Friday) is $0.541 per litre, equivalent to N927.82 at N1,715 to $1.
“The landing cost of PMS in Lagos is N978 per litre. Local refineries avoid the freight costs to and from European ports, saving approximately N85 per litre of PMS.
“Based on every empirical and accurate calculation, no local refinery should be selling above the FOB price at Rotterdam, minus the N85 in freight savings, which results in N842.83,” he added.
Okupe, who also served as the Director-General of Peter Obi’s 2023 Presidential Campaign Council, challenged NNPCL, Dangote Refinery, and oil marketers to dispute his position.
As reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), this development comes shortly after NNPCL adjusted the pump prices of PMS just three weeks following a previous hike. The national oil company raised the retail price of petrol in Abuja from N1,030 to N1,060 per litre and in Lagos from N998 to N1,025 per litre.
