Hours after the Monday’s pronouncement by the newly sworn in President, Bola Tinubu, that subsidy is gone finally on all petroleum products, especially premium motor spirit (PMS), long queues of cars resurfaced outside filling stations in Abuja and environs.
In his inaugural speech in Abuja shortly after being sworn in, Tinubu announced that his administration was committed to ending the fuel subsidy regime, as government can “no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources.”
“Subsidy is gone. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions”, he declared.
The queues were a spontaneous reaction by motorists and other consumers of petroleum products as a result of the declaration apparently in anticipation of a possible disruption in fuel supply and adjustment of the retail pump price by filling station operators.
But, in the swift reaction on Monday, the regulatory authority in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) called for restraint by consumers over what he called panic buying in the wake of the latest pronouncement.
“The pronouncement by Tinubu of subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, is in tandem with the provisions of the law, because the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provided that subsidy should be removed since February 2022,” the Authority Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed told reporters.
In line with that legal provision, Ahmed said the National Assembly proceeded to make provision in 2022 Appropriation Act for fuel subsidy up to June 2023 and none in the 2023 Budget.
The announcement by Tinubu on Monday, he noted, was actually in line with the provisions of the law.
He said for some time, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which is the supplier of last resort, has been struggling to meet its obligations, in terms of ensuring adequate and stable supply of petroleum products.
However, he said for NNPCL to continue to survive, the pronouncement on the removal of subsidy on petrol was necessary as soon as possible.
To play its role as the regulatory authority in the sector, the ACE said the NMDPRA was going to engage with the management of NNPC to work out modalities to ensure there was continuous flow of petroleum products, especially PMS, to bridge any shortfall in the country.
He described the pockets of queues noticed at filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and environs, as a result of panic buying following the pronouncement.
Calling on consumers to show restraint, Ahmed said as a regulatory agency, the NMDPRA was making adequate arrangements to handle the situation and ensure that consumers were not taken advantage of by fuel marketers.
The NMDPRA, he said, would be working with the some agencies involved in the products distribution value chain, including the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to ensure that every arrangement followed the due process of the law.
“We are also calling on all the products marketing companies, especially the major and independent marketing companies as well as the depot owners, including the Major Oil Marketing Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketing Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), to continue to open their petrol stations for business and not hoard the products and cause artificial scarcity. As the regulator, we will come down hard on any operator who violates the law,” he warned.
