The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), on Wednesday said the regulated N165 pump price for petrol also known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), was no longer realistic.
MOMAN Chairman, Mr Olumide Adeosun, said this during a virtual consumer protection workshop for oil marketers by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, in Lagos.
Adeosun blamed the lingering fuel scarcity across the country on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which had disrupted global energy supply distribution.
According to him, the current situation could be likened to the COVID-19 pandemic era with some countries moving to halt exportation of petrol in favour of their own national energy securities.
Adeosun said it would be difficult to enforce any kind of price control mechanism on marketers who had to slightly adjust their prices based on how much they bought products from the depots.
On the way forward, the MOMAN chairman said that a phased deregulation of PMS by the Federal Government to reduce the shock on consumers is they way to go.
He said that the gradual price deregulation should be followed with targeted palliatives in the areas of transportation and agricultural subsidies to the public to ease implementation.
Speaking further, he said that the huge amount spent on petrol subsidy over the years would have been deployed to other critical areas that could have reduced the impact of the current energy crisis on Nigerians.