In a blistering critique of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Festus Osifo, has accused petroleum marketers of heartlessly exploiting Nigerians by inflating fuel prices, insisting that the current pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) should not exceed ₦750 per litre.
Osifo, who spoke at a world press conference held in Abuja on Monday, declared that Nigerians are being shortchanged under the guise of deregulation. He asserted that current crude oil prices do not support the ₦900 per litre pump price being charged by some marketers.
> “At a time when crude oil sold for about $80 per barrel, the pump price hovered around ₦900. Today, crude trades between $62 and $65, yet the price at the pump hasn’t dropped accordingly,” Osifo lamented. “Going by the international PLAT pricing and converting it to Naira, PMS should be retailing between ₦700 and ₦750 per litre.”
He condemned the inaction of regulatory authorities, particularly the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), for failing to intervene and curb the greed of marketers.
> “NMDPRA cannot continue to watch while Nigerians are ripped off by product suppliers. Deregulation should not mean exploitation,” he stressed.
Beyond pricing, Osifo exposed what he described as the politically motivated sabotage of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries, particularly the Port Harcourt refinery, which he said remains comatose under the pretext of maintenance.
> “The shutdown of our refineries, especially Port Harcourt, is often blamed on routine maintenance. But let’s be honest—many of these decisions are politically driven, not operational,” Osifo asserted.
He urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to stop playing politics with national assets and embrace the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) model, which has proven effective and profitable.
> “We’ve been saying it for over 15 years—adopt the NLNG structure for our refineries. Let the government reduce its shareholding to no more than 49%, and bring in globally certified investors to manage and operate the refineries. This will remove political interference and make the refineries commercially viable.”
According to him, the NLNG’s success lies in its clear management, funding, and operational structure—an approach conspicuously absent in Nigeria’s ailing refineries.
> “With such a model, refineries will no longer be subject to the whims of politics. We’ll finally move from rhetoric to results,” he emphasized.
Osifo also drew attention to the grave implications of insecurity in Nigeria’s oil-producing regions, stating that this is a major factor driving international oil companies out of the country.
> “Multinational oil companies are leaving Nigeria because the cost of securing infrastructure has become unsustainable,” he said. “That’s why they’re relocating investments to more stable environments like Mozambique, Guyana, Angola, and Congo.”
He warned that continued insecurity, if left unchecked, will further erode investor confidence and cripple the country’s revenue from oil exports.
PENGASSAN’s message is clear: Nigeria’s oil and gas industry is in dire need of structural overhaul—both in pricing regulation and asset management. With global energy dynamics shifting and domestic challenges mounting, Osifo’s clarion call underscores the urgent need for transparency, professionalism, and the elimination of political meddling in one of Nigeria’s most critical sectors.
> “We can no longer afford to ignore the truth. Nigerians deserve refineries that work and fuel prices that reflect reality, not political games,” Osifo concluded.
PIONEER NEWS 