Petrol Price: Peter Obi raises questions over regulatory roles of NUPRC, NMDPRA

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, has raised questions over what he described as ‘ growing confusion’ regarding the regulatory roles of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in petrol pricing.

Obi said on his X account that the roles played by these agencies, including the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, are not clear .

“We are told that the NNPCL is now a limited liability company, regulated by agencies such as the NUPRC and NMDPRA, yet there seems to be growing confusion about the roles and responsibilities of the NNPCL and these regulating bodies. Interestingly, both the NNPCL and the regulatory agencies are supposed to be under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria serving as the substantive Minister. Who, in this arrangement, is regulating who?” he asked.’

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He said with the unprecedented but avoidable hardship that Nigerians are enduring, the responsibility for providing a full explanation, offering alternative options, and most importantly, reversing the sudden price hike fall squarely on the minister of petroleum resources, who is also Nigeria’s president.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and other marketers, on Wednesday, increased the price of petrol by 16 percent, the third increase in two months.   This signalled the beginning of deregulation in the downstream petroleum sector as marketers now have access to direct petrol purchase from Dangote refinery.

Petrol price was  increased from N950/litre to N998/litre in Lagos and as high as N1,003 in northeastern states.

As a result, Peter Obi said Nigerians are groaning under extremely difficult economic conditions, largely caused by the federal government wrong policy choices. He noted that the NNPCL has once again raised the price of fuel (PMS) without providing any explanation to Nigerians.

“As Nigerians continue to groan under extremely difficult economic conditions, largely caused by the Federal Government’s wrong policy choices, . This is both unfortunate and insensitive, considering the wide-ranging negative consequences for our economic survival and well-being. This is neither how an economy’s resources should be managed nor how a nation should be governed. In this new measure, there is neither sound economics nor necessary compassion,” he said.

Obi noted that the petrol price hike lacks sound economics and necessary compassion, urging the government to assuage the sufferings of the people.

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“We hope and pray that he acts in the best interest of the majority of Nigerians, who are living under unnecessarily precarious conditions, and that he does so before his return from his working vacation. To casually inflict such a draconian measure on the populace from the comfort of an annual vacation amounts to taking the people’s welfare lightly and for granted.”