This was contained in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, titled, ‘President Buhari appoints Chairman, Executive Secretary for PPPRA.’

The statement read, “The Chairman is Mr. Atuonwo Obinna, while the Executive Secretary is Mr. Abdulkadir Saidu, reappointed for another four years.

“The appointment of Mr Atuonwo Obinna as Chairman Governing Board for a four-year term is in accordance with Section 2 (1-3) and 3 (a) of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (Establishment, ETC) Act 2003.”

The Minister  gave this assurance while addressing newsmen in Lagos on Friday in reaction to reports that the price of PMS, had been increased to N212.61 per litre NAN reports.

“Irrespective of the source of that information, I want to assure you that it is completely untrue.

“Neither Mr President who is the Minister of Petroleum Resources nor myself who deputise for him as minister of state has approved that petrol price should be increased by one naira.

“I, therefore, urge you to disregard this misleading information,” the Minister said.

He explained that the government has been in consultation with organised labour to find the least painful option to respond to the global rise of crude price, which has inevitably led to an increase in petrol prices.

He said it was unthinkable that the government would unilaterally abandon these discussions and act in the manner suggested by the information under reference.

“I will like to equally assure you that the engagement with the organised labour and other stakeholders will continue even as the calculations to arrive at a reasonable price regime are being done; all in good faith and you will be availed of the final outcome at the appropriate time.

“Until then, all marketers are strongly advised to maintain the current pump price of PMS before the emergence of this unfortunate information.

“Those who may want to take advantage of this unfortunate information to extort Nigerians should not give in to such temptations as there are regulatory mechanisms that government can enforce to protect its citizens.

“In conclusion, I want to sincerely apologise to all Nigerians for any distress and inconvenience the unfortunate information might have caused,” he said.

The agency restated this as a disclaimer against the released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency that the new price of petrol has reached N212.6 per litre.

The NNPC assured Nigerians via its verified Twitter handle, @NNPCgroup on Friday that the ex-depot price for this month will not increase.

NNPC wrote, “JUST IN: #NNPC Insists No Increase in Ex-Depot Price of PMS in March”.

JUST IN:#NNPC Insists No Increase in Ex-Depot Price of PMS in March pic.twitter.com/IQ3S3EWVlM

— NNPC Group (@NNPCgroup) March 12, 2021

Earlier, the PPPRA announced that petrol is expected to sell at a lower retail price of N209.61 and at an upper retail price of N212.61. Nigerian marketers usually use the upper band for pump price.

The expected ex-depot price, as seen in the template, is N206.42, while the landing cost is N189.61.

According to a statement by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, on Thursday, the Union said it is  demanding for an immediate reversal of the price, stating that the new price in this COVID-19 pandemic was only going to worsen the poverty level across the country and kill businesses.

The statement also accused the government of not being insensitivity towards its citizen for increasing the pump price of fuel at a time Nigerians and businesses were struggling to cope with the negative consequences of COVID-19 pandemic.

InsideOjodu had earlier reported on Wednesday, July 1 2020 that the Federal Government through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency announced a new retail price for oil marketers to sell petrol within the price range of N140.80 and N143.80 for the month of July amid COVID19 in Nigeria.

The statement  also argued that  “PPPRA contradicted itself when it said that the latest price increase described as an “advisory” was meant to regulate a product that government claims had been de-regulated.

“That this new hike in the pump price of petrol was announced without the approval of the board of the PPPRA and the oversight ministry speaks volume of the arbitrariness and public contempt in the operations of PPPRA. We find this deeply disturbing.

“It is also very embarrassing that the PPPRA boss, while trying to defend the indefensible, appeared to be out of sorts and ready to clutch at any available straws to sell his ice block merchandise to Eskimos.

“Apart from contradicting himself that PPPRA is still trying to regulate a deregulated product through ‘advisories’, the PPPRA went on to exert more nails on the coffin of his polemics when he argued that PPPRA was just like the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, that would always act to protect the public interest.

“That was how far the niceties went. The rest of the statement by the PPPRA boss was about how PPPRA plans to protect investors and increase their profit.”

The PPPRA, which is an agency of the Federal Government, made the announcement in a circular to fuel marketers dated May 31, 2020.

Recall that the Federal Government due to the coronavirus pandemic had reduced the pump price of petrol on March 18, 2020 to N125 per litre from N145 per litre.

Recall that on March 18, the Federal Executive Council had approved a reduction of petrol pump price from N145 to N125. After the slash of petrol pump price was announced, PPPRA announced that the federal government approved a monthly review of petrol price to reflect global crude oil market trends.

A statement signed by the PPPRA Executive Secretary, Abdulkadri Saidu, says the new retail price of petrol would be N123.50 beginning from today April 1st.

He said  “The PPPRA, in line with the government approval for a monthly review of premium motor spirit (PMS) pump price, hereby announces guiding PMS pump price of N123.50 per litre. The guiding price, which becomes effective April 1, 2020, shall apply at all retail outlets nationwide for the month of April 2020. The PPPRA and other relevant regulatory agencies shall continue to monitor compliance to extant regulations for a sustainable downstream petroleum sector. Members of the public and all oil marketing companies are to be guided, accordingly”.