Marketers have no reason to sell PMS beyond N145 per litre – Baru

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru says there is no reason for any marketer to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) above the approved price of N145 per litre.

Baru made this known at NNPC Day at the ongoing 29th Enugu International Trade Fair on Thursday.

He said that the corporation was under direct instruction from President Muhammadu Buhari to sell the products to marketers at N133.38k.

“The issue of profiteering on sale of petroleum products has been the problem. Every petroleum supplied in this country at the moment is from the NNPC.

“We are under direct instruction from the president that we must not sell above N145 per litre and that is what we have been doing.

“So, there is no reason why any marketer should sell above N145 per litre,” he said.

Baru said that the recent petroleum crisis was worst in the South-East, and appealed to marketers to reciprocate the goodwill of the Federal Government by ensuring that the masses did not suffer.

“Appeal to your members to extend this goodwill to the people by selling within N145 per litre.

“If they complain that it is because of transportation, I have reports that marketers in Maiduguri are selling at N141 per litre and they are lifting either from Calabar or Port Harcourt. So, somebody here cannot complain,” he said.

He called on Nigerians to report any infringement on the sales of the product to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) nearest to them.

Baru said that the corporation was glad to be part of the fair after long years of its absence.

Earlier, the President of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Mr Emeka Udeze, said they were glad to have the NNPC chief executive attend the event.

Udeze said that appropriate steps needed to be taken to remove all bottlenecks in the petroleum supply chain and ensure the availability of the products.

He said that the last crisis in the sector, which lasted for long, though abated, till date had continued to leave telling effects on Nigerians.

“We do hope that the lessons learnt from this crisis will provide the needed buffer to stabilise the supply chain in the industry and reduce the level of volatility in the economy,” Udeze said.