Fuel marketers have warned they will shut down filling stations nationwide if the Federal Government attempts to impose price controls on petrol in the deregulated downstream sector.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, gave the warning in an interview on Tuesday.
His comments followed remarks by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, who said the government would not tolerate profiteering or practices that exploit consumers despite the deregulation of petrol prices.
Speaking on Monday at the opening of the 2026 General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in Abuja, Lokpobiri said deregulation does not prevent regulators from protecting consumers.
“As part of the requirements of deregulation, prices have to be determined by market forces,” the minister said. “But we also have a responsibility as a government to ensure that there is no profiteering.”
He urged the NMDPRA to ensure petroleum products remain available while preventing unnecessary profiteering, citing provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
Lokpobiri’s remarks came amid growing public concern over the failure of refiners and importers to significantly reduce petrol prices despite a sharp decline in global crude oil prices.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission had also raised concerns over possible consumer exploitation in the downstream petroleum sector following the sustained high pump prices.
Responding, Ukadike rejected allegations that marketers were profiteering, arguing that many operators were incurring losses following repeated reductions in ex-depot prices by Dangote Refinery.
He warned that any attempt to enforce price controls would force marketers to halt fuel sales.
“Marketers will shut down if they try somehow to enforce price control. We are going to shut down our stations nationwide,” Ukadike said. “You can’t be regulating a deregulated market. You can’t tell me how much to sell my product without trying to know how much I bought it.”
He said many marketers purchased petrol at higher prices only for prices to fall before the products reached their filling stations, leaving them to absorb losses while continuing to service bank loans.
According to him, competition—not government price controls—should determine petrol prices.
Ukadike urged the government to boost competition by ensuring local refineries operate efficiently and by allowing more product imports.
“The primary cause of this is that there is no competition,” he said. “If they try to enforce price control, we will shut down.”
Also reacting, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the minister has the authority to intervene to protect consumers but should first consult stakeholders across the industry.
He called on the minister to convene a meeting of key industry players to examine the current pricing situation and agree on measures that would benefit consumers.
“The minister has the power to intervene in matters like this, and every stakeholder, including the refineries, must comply,” Gillis-Harry said.
The spokesman for the NMDPRA, George Ene-Ita, said he had not been briefed on any planned regulatory action.
“I’ve not been briefed. I don’t know the action the management wants to take,” he said.
Petrol currently sells for between N1,140 and N1,210 per litre, depending on location.
