The Federal Government has refuted claims that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources instructed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to increase the fuel price by N1,000 above the official pump rate.
The report, which alleged that Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, issued the directive, has been dismissed by the government as baseless.
According to The PUNCH, in a statement released on Tuesday by Lokpobiri’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Nnemaka Okafor, the government denounced the report as fabricated and designed to create unrest and confusion within the oil sector.
The statement emphasized that the Federal Government has never interfered with fuel pricing at NNPCL, much less instructed a price hike.
The statement read, “The Federal Government is compelled to address the outright falsehoods currently being circulated on social media, which claim that the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to inflate petroleum prices above the approved pump price.
“We categorically condemn these claims as baseless, malicious, and a deliberate attempt to incite public discontent. We challenge anyone in possession of any evidence-be it written documents, audio, or video recordings-that supports these fabrications to make it public.
“Such a claim is entirely devoid of truth and should be recognised as an intentional effort to mislead the public. It must be stressed that NNPCL operates as an independent entity under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, with a fully empowered Board of Directors.
“The Ministry of Petroleum Resources does not, and will not, interfere in the internal decisions of NNPCL, including pricing matters. Any suggestion otherwise is not only incorrect but also reveals a profound misunderstanding of the deregulated nature of Nigeria’s petroleum sector.”
