The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) asserts that there is no justification for the nationwide shortage and price increase of premium motor spirit (PMS).
In a statement released on Monday, PENGASSAN stated that statistics made accessible to the union indicated that the government has more than 30 days’ worth of PMS on hand.
Festus Osifo, the organization’s president, and Lumumba Okugbawa, its secretary-general, signed the statement jointly.
The association lamented the hardship Nigerians were experiencing as a result of the shortage and price increase.
The statement states, “We recognize that the parameters imputed into the previous Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and now Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) template have changed.”
This is due to economic factors such as exchange rate fluctuations, vessel rental fees, and AGO costs, among others.
“However, there is no acceptable explanation for gasoline’s exorbitant price, which imposes further hardships on the general populace.”
PENGASSAN encouraged the administration of NMDPRA to compel all distributors and retailers to sell the items at the permitted price.
It also demanded that the agency promptly mobilize all of its personnel around the nation to oversee compliance.
As a deterrence, PENGASSAN requested that the authority withdraw the licenses of non-compliant marketers.
“Should this cooperation go undetected, we would not hesitate to work with other stakeholders to ensure that Nigerians are not victimized further,” the statement read.
PENGASSAN’s criticism coincides with an increase in the price of gasoline at gas stations and a three-month-long gasoline shortage.
According to the NMDPRA, the scarcity is exacerbated by cross-border smuggling, errant traders, and current road construction.
