Tina Amanda
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, IPMAN, Rivers State, has expressed concern over the price increase of AGO (Diesel), saying it will be more damaging economically than the price increase of PMS (Fuel).
IPMAN Chairman Rivers State, Dr Joseph Obele, who stated this, said the price increase of diesel means Nigerians will pay more for commodities as diesel is the only product used by manufacturers or factories for powering their generator plants.
According to him, Nigeria depends on imported petroleum products from the international market, since the refineries are not working, which is currently expensive on the international market.
“As of last year, 2021, diesel was selling in Nigeria for #250. It moved to #400 early this year, later moved to #500. As we speak, it is selling at #620. Business owners are feeling the pinch and it will automatically descend on the consumers at any buying point.
“The current diesel price will translate to high cost for the consumable products and all services.
“It is obvious that the increase in diesel price is expected to triple the cost of production and accelerate the inflationary pressure on the country. Diesel is deregulated in Nigeria, which means the increase in the international price of crude oil is responsible for what we see across the nation”.
He maintained that the only remedy is to fix refineries in the country in no distance time, to avoid happenings in the international market having an impact on the nation”.
“It is unfortunate that the rise in the price of diesel will further worsen the ugly inflation index of Nigeria. Prices of the product keep increasing, and nothing is being done about it. The high inflation rate in the country means goods are expensive, people have less money to buy things when prices are going up, the masses have less money to buy those products. We are going to have a lot of joblessness in the country.
“Russia and Ukraine tension has led to a significant increase in the price of crude, so Nigerians should expect more increases both in Aviation Fuel, PMS and AGO”.
