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The Coalition for Energy Reforms and Good Governance Advocacy on Sunday has implored the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL to remove hidden levies and charges on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, better known as petrol, locally sourced from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
The coalition said the removal of the levies and charges would make the product affordable for Nigerians and end the worsening hardship being faced by citizens.
Read Also: Asari: Your Double Standard Stinks – HURIWA Blasts Defence HQ
This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the coalition’s Executive Director, Dr Jonathan Amande.
The call followed the latest increase in the pump prices of petrol by the NNPCL which had triggered widespread outrage among Nigerians.
The concerned citizens are questioning what prompted the fuel hike when the product is being locally refined.
Reacting to the hike, the Coalition called on NNPCL to urgently eliminate hidden charges on fuel prices from the Dangote Refinery, stating that these hidden levies have been added to the Premium, inspection fee, margin and NMDPRA (Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority) fee that were publicly declared.
It argued that “these invisible government levies, including those from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, are unjustified and inflates the cost of locally produced fuel.
”These levies, which have no place in the local production and sale of petroleum products, prevent the Dangote Refinery from selling fuel at more affordable prices.
“Without these additional charges, some of which are layered on the crude supply, local refineries could potentially sell fuel at prices as low as ₦400 per litre,” the Coalition asserted.
In other news, even as the Defence Headquarters stated on Thursday that it chose not to go after former Niger Delta militant warlord, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, to avoid being accused of acting “undemocratically,” Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has dismissed the position of the military hierarchy as offensive double standards which diminishes the status of the armed forces of Nigeria.
“It is such a pathetic sight to behold the Defence Headquarters talking back on Asari-Dokubo instead of enforcing the law by investigating, arresting and prosecuting him even if not for his most recent threat, but for the previous outings in which he was seen on videos brandishing military grade assault riffles. Is the Defence Headquarters feigning ignorance of all these videos of Asari-Dokubo?”
HURIWA recalled that the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, made this remark in Abuja while responding to a recent report about Asari-Dokubo’s alleged threat to shoot down a military helicopter that had reportedly hovered around his residence.
