They are “free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis”, it said while reacting to the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC’s) claim that the organisation hiked the price of petrol to undermine the Dangote Refinery.
MURIC in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, had advised the NNPCL to allow Dangote Refinery to operate freely without undue interference.
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer at NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, in a statement, on Saturday, took a swipe at MURIC, saying that its appeal was flawed.
According to Soneye, NNPCL is not the sole offtaker of Dangote products, assuring that the market remains open to lower prices from any domestic refinery.
“In fact, if current prices are perceived as high, it presents an ideal opportunity for the refinery to sell its products at lower prices in the Nigerian market,” he explained.
Sonoye emphasised that “there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the DRL.”
He said “The NNPC Ltd will only fully offtake PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria. The DRL and any other domestic refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, which is the current practice for all fully deregulated products.
“NNPC Ltd has no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment, and therefore, the notion of becoming a sole offtaker does not arise.”
He also declared that “The NNPC Ltd cannot undermine a business in which it holds a billion-dollar stake.”
“As an advocacy group for fair and just treatment, MURIC should have verified the facts before making statements that are entirely flawed and has the potential to incite ordinary Nigerians against the NNPC Ltd.”
