NNPC, PPPRA, PPMC Differ On Kerosene Price
ABUJA, February 09, (THEWILL) - The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Pipelines Products Marketing Company(PPMC) Limited have all failed to give the definite pump price of kerosene in the country, as they gave conflicting figures of the price of the essential product.
Chief executives of the agencies that appeared before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on management of subsidy presented different positions.
Chairman of the committee, Honourable Farouk Lawan had asked the Chief Executive about the prevailing pump price of kerosene in major cities of the country.
While the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Austen Oniwon, told the committee that the retail price was N40.90, the official retail price of the product, even at the NNPC retail outlets all over the country is N50 per litre.
In his response, Managing Director of the PPMC, Haruna Momoh, said that the market price of the product in Lagos was N75 per litre and N80 in some other places.
But the Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Reginald Stanley, disagreed as he maintained that the actual prevailing pump price of the product was N130 per litre. Stanley added that the landing cost of kerosene is N151 and the subsidized retail price is N40.90k.
According to him, the federal government pays between N105 to N112 per litre as subsidy on Kerosene imported into the country.
He stated that kerosene is being used in some other sectors apart from domestic purpose for which it is being imported.
He said in spite of the increase in the volume of kerosene imported into the country, demand for the product always outweighs its supply. According to him, the estimated daily consumption of kerosene in the country is 8 million litres, but even as the NNPC is supplying 10 million litres per day, it is still not available to the consumers.
The PPPRA boss however acknowledged that there was a problem in the distribution of kerosene in the country even as he added that the same distribution template is used in distributing PMS without issues.
Asked about the distribution template, the PPMC Managing Director disclosed that 58.48% is distributed through Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN); 25% through the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMMAN) and 16.52% through the NNPC Retail Outlets across the country.
The Committee however pointed out that there was no way the product would be sold at the recommended price as the percentage accorded the NNPC Retail Outlets was too meager just as it submitted that the masses are at the mercy of business people who have the major share in the distribution chain.
The lawmakers equally queried Mr. John Otunla, Accountant General of the Federation over the discrepancies observed between the monies approved for payment of subsidy and the actual amount received by some of the oil importers through the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) scheme. He replied saying, “If the need arises that there are discrepancies all we need do is find the sources of differences because accounting could be very dynamic.”
The Audit firm engaged by the NNPC, Olusola Adekanla and Co, represented by Kehinde Oyeleke, could not give account of the volume of petroleum products imported from Cotonou offshore by the Corporation.