The House of Representatives has described the position of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company NNPC Ltd as the sole offtaker of premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol from Dangote Refinery as spelling monopoly and akin to greediness.
This is even as the lower chamber flayed the state oil company for being unable to manage the country’s crude oil and refineries over the years.
Consequently, the green chamber called on the federal government to mandate the NNPC Limited and Dangote Refinery to allow independent marketers to lift petrol directly from the refinery.
READ ALSO: NNPCL Reveals Why Oil Marketers Can’t Buy, Import Petrol from Dangote
The lower chamber also urged the management of Dangote Refinery to build, acquire, or partner to establish tank farms or depots across the geo-political zones of the country, to ease access to petroleum products for the public to make the products readily available and cheaper.
This call followed a motion of urgent public importance moved on Thursday by Oboku Oforji (PDP, Bayelsa) during plenary.
According to Oforji the exclusion of independent marketers threatens competition in the sector.
He noted that competition is essential for reducing costs, adding that some marketers may resort to importing products to survive in the market.
“NNPCL and the major marketers being the exclusive off-takers spells monopoly, which is tantamount to greed. This is the same NNPCL that has failed to manage our crude and refineries for decades,” the lawmaker said.
Continuing, he said: “In view of the high demand by millions of Nigerians for PMS, and the ordeal they go through to obtain it, NNPCL should allow independent marketers to lift the product from the Dangote refinery.
“Allowing NNPCL and major marketers to lift PMS from the refinery, to the exclusion of independent marketers, is not acceptable.”
READ ALSO: Dangote Refinery Should Have Considered Us Ahead Of NNPC Ltd As Off-takers- Oil Marketers
In the motion, Oforji also commended the refinery for its impact on energy sovereignty of the country.
“Nigeria is driving towards energy self-sufficiency, cost and foreign exchange savings, meeting the increasing demand for fuels, attraction of foreign capital investment, generation of Forex through export of finished product,” he said.
The motion was adopted without debate, and it was unanimously passed when Speaker Abbas Tajudeen put it to a vote.
