Marketers are selling Household Kerosene (HHK) above the approved price of N84.17 per litre, investigation has revealed.
They sell the product for between N115 and N120 per litre.
According to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency’s (PPPRA) pricing template of March 17, the expected open market price (OMP) of kerosene is N84.17 per litre.
However, marketers, mainly independents, sell the product well above the approved price of N84.17 per litre. In many retail outlets in Lagos, The Nation discovered that consumers buy kerosene at N120 per litre.
At some retail outlets in Ikotun, Egbeda, Idimu, Iyana-Ipaja, and Agege in Lagos, consumers stood in long queues to buy the product, described as “poor man specific”. Those who went to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) outlets to buy at cheaper price, were disappointed as the product was not available.
Contacted, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) National President Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo said he was not aware that his members were selling kerosene above the official price.
He said the association would deal with any of his members who sells the product above the official price of N83 per litre, adding that the association is yet to arrest anybody in that regard.
Activities in the market, he said, were determined by the forces of demand and supply, adding that market forces may influence selling the products above the official price by their members.
Okoronkwo said: “IPMAN as a body was not aware that his members are selling kerosene above the official pump price of N85 per litre. In case members of the public get hold of a marketer that sells kerosene above the official price, report the marketer to us. We at IPMAN would not hesitate to deal with such a marketer. However, we cannot rule out the role of market forces in the issue, because marketers who sell petroleum products at above the regulated prices may be operating in accordance with market forces.’’
LIKE a shot from the blues, the Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) announced a new retail price for Household Kerosene (HHK) last week. As against the old regulated pump price of N50, it announced a new price of N83 per litre. Also, in the new template, the Expected Open Market Price, which represents the landing cost plus total margins for the marketer now stands at N72.28 per litre. For a Federal Government that has hitherto subsidised the product, the new price structure comes with a net gain of N10.72 per litre.
Far beyond merely reflecting the current dynamics in global oil prices, it comes to us as a new dawn that the Federal Government, after its initial dithering, has finally woken up to the need to confront a monster that has not only constituted a needless drain on the treasury but has spawned a complex web of rent seekers.
Before now, the arguments have dwelt on whether or not the Federal Government cannot afford to remove the subsidy on a product that means so much to the poor without risking further impoverishment of the class. We have also heard – and this argument is as familiar as it is persuasive – that the poor majority will simply switch to firewood – a ready alternative fuel – in the event of the price going beyond their reach and with it the risk of further depletion of our forest resources and other associated environmental challenges.
We must admit that some of the fears are as legitimate as others are quite exaggerated. Overall, the narratives would seem to fly in the face of our experiences of unending scarcity of the product and the human toll that it continues to exact, particularly in the last decade. The simple truth is that few Nigerians actually get to buy kerosene at the official rate of N50 per litre, and these are usually residents of state capitals where the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) service stations are mostly found. And where it is sold, getting to buy is sheer struggle akin to survival of the fittest. As for the rest of the consumers outside the state capitals, they have since learnt to worry more about getting the product than the issue of the so-called regulated price.
It is certainly not hard to decipher why the subsidy has remained a permanent fixture on the fuel price template. What has happened is that corrupt government officials and their allies – the cartel of fuel importers – had over the years, managed to sell the lie to the general public that the subsidy actually benefits them when it is in fact their ready source of unearned wealth.
We recall that then governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, now Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II, actually attempted to put lie to these claims in his 2014 memo to the then President Goodluck Jonathan at the height of the controversies over the alleged missing $20 billion when he noted that: “In dollar terms every vessel of kerosene imported by NNPC with federation money cost about $30m and it was sold at $10m or $11m generating rent of $20m per vessel to the syndicate”.
By his estimates, the loss to the treasury came to $100m per month. That was two years ago when oil sold above $100 a barrel.
Today, the reality is different. With crude prices currently selling at barely a quarter of the 2014 price, the idea of retaining that old regime of subsidy at a time of severely shrunk revenue is quite frankly, unimaginable. Rather than subsidise kerosene, the government will do well to focus on making healthcare affordable, improving the learning environment for our kids, providing electricity and potable water, all of which are ineluctable components of the good life. Those are certainly better ways to spend public funds.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has increased the price of Household Kerosene from N50 to N83.
This is contained in its products pricing template, released on Sunday in Abuja.
It stated that the N83 per litre price applied only to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) outlets.
The template also showed that at N83, the Federal Government will be making a gain of N10.72 on every litre.
It further puts the expected open market price, which is the landing cost plus total margins at N72.28 per litre.
The expected open market price is the prevailing open market rate for the product in Nigeria, after taking certain costs into consideration.
Giving a breakdown of the price, the PPPRA template put the landing cost of the product at N57.98 per litre, while the total margin due middlemen was put at N14.30.
The retailers’ margin was put at N5 per litre; transporters at N3.05 per litre while dealers at N1.95 per litre. It further put the bridging fund at N5.85 per litre; marine transport average at N0.15 and Administrative Charges – N0.15.
It stated that the official ex-depot price, which depot owners would sell to marketers, is N68.70 per litre. The official ex-depot price for collection is N73 per litre, while ex-coastal price is N68.02 per litre.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has increased the price of Household Kerosene from N50 to N83.
This is contained in its products pricing template, released yesterday in Abuja.
The agency stated that the N83 per litre price applied only to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) outlets.
The template also showed that at N83, the Federal Government will be making a gain of N10.72 on every litre.
It further puts the expected open market price, which is the landing cost plus total margins at N72.28 per litre.
The expected open market price is the prevailing open market rate for the product in Nigeria, after taking certain costs into consideration.
Giving a breakdown of the price, the PPPRA template put the landing cost of ?the product at N57.98 per litre, while the total margin due? middlemen was put at N14.30.
The retailers’ margin was put at N5 per litre; transporters at N3.05 per litre, and dealers at N1.95 per litre.
It further put the bridging fund at N5.85 per litre; marine transport average at N0.15 and Administrative? Charges – N0.15.
It stated that the official ex-depot price, which depot owners would sell to marketers, is N68.70 per litre. The official ex-depot price for collection is N73 per litre, while ex-coastal price is N68.02 per litre.
The official price difference is not expected to matter much to millions of poor Nigerians who are used to buying the product at over N100 per litre.
Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPAN) yesterday said their over N1billion meant to lift kerosene has been trapped in the vaults of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Its Western Zone Chair, Alhaji Debo Ahmed told reporters in Ilorin, Kwara State capital shortly after the association’s zonal meeting that “the ticket we paid is in the Warri depot since about 19 months. We want NNPC to look into that. That is the crux of our meeting. We have appealed to the government; we are ready; we want to assist the government we want to assist NNPC.
“The tickets were submitted to Warri. Warri is supposed to have loaded us. Since Warri broke down, nothing has happened. But you can see we have minor kerosene in Lagos. If NNPC can probably transfer our tickets to Lagos, we can load these tickets. It has taken too long. A lot of us took the money from banks. The money is now tied down and nobody is helping us in that respect.”
A major kerosene black marketer in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, is allegedly operating behind the fence of the Yobe State House of Assembly.
Investigation showed that the black marketer (name withheld), who is said to be allegedly working with officials of a filling station in Damaturu, usually siphons more than 20,000 litres of kerosene, of the 33,000 litres meant for Damaturu and its environs, taking them to Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, Bauchi and other neighbouring states.
Further checks revealed that only 5,000 litres of the product are allegedly sold to legitimate marketers in the metropolis.
A kerosene seller in Damaturu, who preferred anonymity, showed our correspondent the depot, which is behind the Yobe State House of Assembly, close to the August 27 Stadium roundabout.
He alleged: “The product is usually lifted in broad daylight from the filling station in Damaturu to this designated depot (behind the House of Assembly) in 30-litre jerry-cans where it is later transferred to this big drum (pointing at the jerry-can and surface tanks behind the fence of the House of Assembly).
“After they must have transferred enough from the filling station to these drums, a tanker will come and take away the product to neighbouring states.
“What they give to us here is just about 5,000 litres. They take over 20,000 litres to these places and share the remaining among wealthy people in the town.”
The source alleged that the matter was reported to the police, but no action was taken.
Police spokesman Toyin Gbadegesin said he was not aware of any report about the alleged kerosene syndicate.
SIR: Kerosene is one of the most essential commodities in the lives of most Nigerians, especially those living in semi urban and rural areas. Among the most crucial factors that affect Nigerians’ usage of kerosene is not only its availability but also its efficient distribution at the appropriate price.
It is obvious that President Muhammadu Buhari attaches great importance and gives priority to effective and inclusive nationwide distribution of petroleum products, especially kerosene, to Nigerians nationwide and at government approved prices. Thus, during his speech on the 55th year Independence anniversary, he categorically mentioned the success recorded by his government in the improvement of distribution of kerosene. The President said: “…by the same token, supply of petrol and kerosene to the public has improved throughout the country”.
If the current modest improvement in the supply and distribution of kerosene is sustained, it will produce some fruitful end results- increased public confidence on government programmes and policies and encouraging the managers of the nation’s refineries and NNPC depots to sustain the gains.
Some opposition to Buhari government may question what the relationship between governance and the improvement in the distribution of kerosene is? The answer to this is simple. Buhari has so far exhibited qualities and appeals which inspire enthusiasm in Nigerians with just a wink of an eye. Buhari is an individual with vision for the future, a man who can go the extra mile to get things done, Buhari is one man that can differentiate between reality and smokescreen and also remain positive in the public eye, no matter what the situation may be.
Buhari’s actions and quality leadership have made NNPC personnel and marketers, especially major marketers to enthusiastically key-in to government’s resolve to improve the distribution of kerosene throughout the country. One of the heart-warming examples is the new innovation in the distribution of kerosene introduced by NNPC Kaduna depot management and one of the major oil marketers- they designed a well mapped strategy that ease the distribution of kerosene to both urban and rural areas at government approved price. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and other stakeholders are also playing a very vital role in improving that strategy.
President Buhari is indeed making Nigerians happy with the modest improvement in the distribution of kerosene nationwide. Most Nigerians believe he will revive the nation’s four refineries and the 21 NNPC depots in order to sustain this improvement.
His grandmother sits him on her laps, petting the little boy. The boy, barely three years of age, is going through excruciating pains. Joshua Emavweria is one of the children who became victims of the killer-kerosene in circulation in some parts of Southern district of Delta State, including Warri South and Udu council areas. At least, nine cases of kerosene explosions have so far been recorded. The victims are patients at the Central Hospital in Warri and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin.
As the story goes, virtually all of the families whose children are lying critically injured in hospitals, bought kerosene the usual manner they have always done for as long as they could remember. The application of the fuel, the days it went wrong, was not different from how they had previously applied it all along, but there was something wrong this time. It is suspected to have been adulterated and thereby became dangerous. It seems being adulterated, suspectedly, is not the only thing about this case, it looks also like a targeted attack on children; besides the cases of the adolescents among the victims, who got burnt while carrying out chores, there are also cases, such as that of Master Emavweria, who were neither making fire nor carrying kerosene when they got burnt. The story of how each of the victims ended up party or wholly burnt varies from case to case. While Joshua and his sister, another toddler, were caught unawares by the fire that jumped on them from a distance, Oghenemaro and his sister, Elozino, were trying to refuel their lantern when it exploded on them.
•Victim of the killer kerosene
Giving an account of how her grandchildren became victims, Madam Titi Emavweria, said she was actually the one close to the spot of the explosion because she was the one cooking. But to her surprise, the fire from jumped from the local firewood stove in from of her and landed on the two toddlers who were supposedly a safe distance away.
“We cook outside and that morning as I set the woods I put kerosene, as I put the kerosene and lit the match on it, I just heard a loud explosion. The children were not close to me, but the fire just jumped on them, scattered on the two of them,”Madam Emavweria told Niger Delta Report, amidst attempts to calm her agonising grandson down.
Oghenemaro Akrovbie is luckier than his younger sister, Elozino, who suffered about 90 degrees of burns all over her body, including her face.
“ Our lantern had already gone off so I decided to put fuel in it. As I was putting it I just heard whoom and I threw the gallon away. That was when it affected my sister,” he narrated. As a result of the gravity of the burns on her, the hospital, according to its Public Relations Officer, Mrs Success Obere, had referred Elozino, along with another victim, to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
In the same ward where Oghenemaro, Joshua and others were receiving care, was Oghenewegba, with his legs, hands and face burnt. His fingers are already bent. As he was being dressed by the nurses, Wegba gave out a shout of agony, unable to sit straight on his bed.
•Victim of the killer kerosene
All the victims are children, among them some as young as three years. The reason it is curious is said to be the same reason why many of those who have heard and made moves did; they are children, who could hardly be blamed for their actions. They are children, who naturally should be protected from harsh and painful experiences, because of the effect such experiences might leave on their psyche. Little children, of select ages, have now been made to go through the horror of explosions, not nature imposed like in some cases in the northeast or some other corner of the world, but imposed by the greed of some persons doing illegal deals without a thought about the effect it might have on those who would end up with the fruits of their illegal deal in the larger society.
One of those who have come out to identify with the victims is the Chairman, Warri South Council Area, Mathew Mofe Edema. He called for an investigation into the development, even as he charged parents and guardians to enlighten their children and wards against such dangerous practices as fueling an already lit appliances. While he rendered financial aides ranging between N20,000 to N30,000 to parents of the victims, he also promised to relate their ordeal to the state government.
The parents of the victims, some of whom were seen at the hospital, though might not be thinking of the cost of saving the lives of their children and wards for now, they did not seem like people living in affluence. The fact that the unexpected calamity that visited their homes had access because they had to use kerosene lantern is enough evidence that the accidents would take a huge financial toll on them.
Nine children have been taken to Warri Central Hospital to treat the severe burns they got in the explosions caused by suspected adulterated kerosene in Warri South and Udu local government areas of Delta State.
The victims were said to have suffered between 50 to 90 degrees of burns.
Some of the parents of the affected children told reporters in Warri that the incidents occurred on August 15 and 16 when the children attempted to fuel lit lanterns.
Two of the victims’ father, Johnson Obethe, said his son and daughter, both of primary school ages, were pouring kerosene into a lantern at 10pm on Sunday when it exploded and burnt them.
The case of 10-year-old Elozino Akwirorogbe and her brother of Merogun Street, Warri, was similar to the Obethes.
Their mother said the children were also filling their lantern with kerosene when the explosion occurred.
Elozino’s case was described as the most severe because the fire affected almost all parts of her body, including the face.
Explosions from suspected adulterated kerosene were said to have also occurred in Aladja, Udu Local Government Area.
Some patients at the Warri Central Hospital were said to have been brought from Aladja, following similar explosions in the area.
A toddler of less than two years was being treated at the hospital for the burns she got on Saturday from an explosion from a firewood stove after her grandmother poured the fuel on the woods.
Executive Chairman of Warri South Local Government Area, Mofe Edema, who visited the victims at the hospital in company of other council officials, called for an investigation into the incident.
Edema urged parents and guardians to enlighten their children and wards against fuelling already lit appliances.
The council chief promised to render financial aides, ranging between N20,000 to N30,000, to parents of the victims.
He also promised to relate their ordeal to the state government.
Eight children suffered severe burns in adulterated kerosene explosions in Warri, Warri South Local Government Area and Udu, Udu Local Government Area.
The children who are lying critically ill at the Central Hospital, Warri, suffered between 50 and 90 per cent burns.
Officials of Warri South Local Government Area, who visited them in the hospital, urged the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to investigate the sources of the killer product.
They urged the DPR to also stop further circulation of the adulterated fuel.
The police said they were ready to assist in the investigation.
