By Stanley Onyeka, Lagos
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd., and the Dangote Refinery, yesterday resumed another round of counter-claims, as the duo bicker over the pricing of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as Petrol.
Whereas NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer,Olufemi Soneye, in an interview with Channels Television said the Company bought PMS at N898 per litre in dollar-denominated at the Dangote Refinery, the refinery disputed the claim.
Such dollarized transaction runs contrary to an earlier directive by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) All that all transactions and associated regulatory costs at the Dangote Refinery, should be done in Naira, the local currency.
Specifically, Mr Soneye told Channels TV that “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today. The claim that we purchased it at N1,300 per litre or at N760 is incorrect.
“For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per litre. I can also confirm, in response to your inquiries, that we will receive 16.8 million litres.
“As of 4 p.m. Sunday, we have loaded about 70 trucks today and it’s still ongoing,” he said.
NNPC claim, misleading
But in a quick rebuttal Dangote Group’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, accused NNPC of misleading the public.
Mr. Chiejina in a statement, said: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement attributed to NNPCL spokesperson, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, that we sell our PMS at N898 per litre to the NNPCL.
“This statement is both misleading and mischievous, deliberately aimed at undermining the milestone achievement recorded today, September 15, 2024, towards addressing energy insufficiency and insecurity, which has bedeviled the economy in the past 50 years.
“We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.
“It should also be noted that we sold the products to NNPCL in dollars with a lot of savings against what they are currently importing. With this action, there will be petrol in every local government area of the country regardless of their remote nature.
“We assure Nigerians of the availability of quality petroleum products and putting an end to the endemic fuel scarcity in the country.”
The NNPC Ltd assures that if the quoted pricing is disputed, it will be grateful for any discount from the Dangote Refinery, which will be passed on 100% to the general public.
‘We stand by our word’
Unruffled by Mr Chiejina’s proclamation, the NNPC released estimated prices of Petrol obtained from the Dangote Refinery, in its retail stations across the country.
Mr Soneye in a counter-statement, reiterated that: “The NNPC Ltd can confirm that it is paying Dangote Refinery in USD for September 2024 PMS offtake, as Naira.”
He added that “The NNPC Ltd assures that if the quoted pricing is disputed, it will be grateful for any discount from the Dangote Refinery, which will be passed on 100% to the general public.”
Noting that “in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), PMS prices are not set by Government, but negotiated directly between parties on an arms length,” the NNPC attached the estimated pump prices of PMS (obtained from the Dangote Refinery) across its retail outlets, based on September 2024 pricing.
The public have become weary of the constant squabble among stakeholders –regulators, oil companies, marketers, and a host of others since the $20billion 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery commenced operations.
Industry watchers have cautioned all the concerned parties to focus on the business of downstream petroleum operations rather than engage in unending bickering and relieve Nigerians of current hardship amid hyper-inflation due to high cost of living and scarcity of petroleum products.
