FCCPC Accuses Oil Marketers says Nigerians not benefiting from crude price drop is the silent robbery, we face this at the pumps every morning. FCCPC also went ahead call out the actions of marketers as exploitation of the highest order.
You drive into the filling station. The meter spins like a slot machine you are guaranteed to lose. One thousand two hundred naira per litre. Again. You heard on the news last night that crude oil prices have crashed globally. You expected relief this morning. Instead, you got this familiar pinch.
This is exactly what the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is talking about. Nigerians not benefiting from crude price drop is not just a headline. It is the reality in our wallets. The FCCPC came out on Sunday and said what we have all been screaming in our cars. The exploitation has to stop.
When Crude Prices Jump, We Pay. When They Fall, We Still Pay.
Think back to April and May. Trouble in the Gulf. Crude oil prices jumped. Before you could blink, the pump price hit one thousand three hundred, one thousand five hundred naira. Diesel was touching two thousand. The marketers were swift. They told us it was a direct response to the global market. We understood. We paid through our noses.
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But now the global prices have eased. The tensions abroad have dropped. Logic says our suffering should reduce too. But look at the stations today. The price remains crippling. The FCCPC reviewed the gantry prices from local refiners and depot operators. They saw only token reductions. They called it undue exploitation. They are right.
FCCPC Accuses Oil Marketers Of Exploitation
Tunji Bello, the Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, did not mince words. He made it clear that the commission does not regulate petroleum prices. The downstream market is deregulated. But they have eyes. They see the one-sided game. They see that when crude oil sneezes, pump prices catch pneumonia immediately. But when crude oil gets healthy, pump prices stay on the sickbed, pretending to be too weak to move.
According to the Commission’s review, some local refiners are fixing gantry prices between one thousand and twenty-five naira to one thousand and seventy-five naira. Yet the retail average nationwide hovers around one thousand two hundred naira. Someone is eating that difference. And it is not the average Nigerian just trying to get to work.
This matters beyond the pump. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, energy costs remain a primary driver of core inflation in Nigeria. When fuel prices refuse to drop despite cheaper crude, the cost of transport, food, and basic survival stays painfully high for everyone. FCCPC Accuses Oil Marketers Of Exploitation
If you have been following our coverage of how the fuel subsidy removal hit household budgets earlier this year, you know this pain is not new. We also wrote recently about the gap between refinery gate prices and what consumers actually pay at retail outlets.
The Silence of the FCCPC Accuses Oil Marketers
The FCCPC issued the warning through its Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu. The message was sharp. Competitive markets must work fairly in both directions. You cannot be quick to take and slow to give back. But here we are. The global market has given relief, but the local pump has gone mute. FCCPC Accuses Oil Marketers Of Exploitation
“Crude oil price drops overseas, but here? Pump price just keeps climbing. It’s like this market doesn’t even see Nigerians—only naira.
We’re out here grinding, sweating, just to put fuel in our cars or keep the generator running, and these marketers treat our pockets like their personal emergency stash. Anytime they want, they just dip in and take. No explanation. No shame. Just a new price slapped on the board.”
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