If there’s one burning question on the minds of Nigerians these days, it’s this: why are we paying between N1,000 and N1,500 for a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)?
- Sadly, the very people who should be explaining this strange new reality have decided to stay tight-lipped, with heads buried in the sand like ostriches.
- Meanwhile, those who have been milking the country’s oil wealth while keeping its four refineries comatose have been busy peddling dubious narratives to discredit Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
- Let’s get one thing straight: the Dangote Refinery is not to blame for the price of PMS in Nigeria.
- In fact, without this refinery, we might be staring at petrol prices as high as N2,500 a litre, just like the recent gloomy predictions from oil marketers and analysts.
- The real culprits in this price mess are the oil cabals and their cosy friends at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).
- These folks are trying to spin the tale that locally refined products are somehow more expensive than imported fuel, justifying the ongoing need to import fuel and keep those highly subsidised prices intact.
- Let’s pause and ask: since when did importing fuel become a better deal than refining it locally? That’s like paying extra for a loaf of bread because someone else baked it in their oven.
