The group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, has attributed the rise in the per-liter pump price of fuel from N537 to N617 to market forces.
The NNPCL CEO clarified that the hike is not based on a shortage of fuel in an interview with reporters on Tuesday following a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the State House in Abuja.
He stated: “They are simply prices based on current market conditions. Making sure the market regulates itself has this implication. Prices will fluctuate, sometimes rising and sometimes falling.
“No, there isn’t a supply problem, there is no shortage.”
He claimed that when you visit the market, you purchase an item, then you return to the market and sell it there for the going rate. “Nothing to do with supply is involved. There are no supply problems here.”
He also stated that there is a good supply, enough for the whole country for more than 32 days.
Kyari’s statement came a few hours after some petrol stations run by the NNPCL in Abuja increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, from N537/litre to N615/litre.
