Fuel marketers have issued a strong warning to the Federal Government, threatening a nationwide shutdown of filling stations if any form of price control is enforced in the deregulated petroleum sector.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, gave the warning on Tuesday following concerns raised by the government over high petrol prices despite a drop in global crude oil costs .
Speaking at the 2026 General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, directed regulators to prevent profiteering and protect consumers from exploitation, stressing that deregulation does not mean abandoning responsibility .
The minister's comments came as petrol prices remain between N1,140 and N1,210 per litre, even though crude oil prices have fallen from $120 to about $72 per barrel following de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East .
However, marketers rejected allegations of profiteering, insisting that many operators are actually recording heavy losses due to frequent price reductions by the Dangote refinery .
Ukadike explained that marketers often buy fuel at higher prices only to find that depot prices have dropped before they can sell, leaving them with losses while still servicing bank loans with fixed interest rates .
"Marketers will shut down if they try somehow to enforce price control. We are going to shut down our stations nationwide. You can't be regulating a deregulated market," Ukadike said .
He urged the government to address the root cause of high prices by boosting competition through increased local refining and importation, rather than imposing price controls in a deregulated market governed by the Petroleum Industry Act .
The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, acknowledged the minister's authority to intervene but called for stakeholder consultations before any action is taken .
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has yet to announce specific measures regarding the minister's directive .
Abuja Network News
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