TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met with Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and his predecessor, Ibe Kachikwu, at the state house, Abuja.

The details of the meeting were not disclosed to state house correspondents, as both minister and group managing director declined to speak with the press.

The meeting comes two days after former group managing directors of the NNPC met in Abuja, worried that the current fuel price does not align with the realities in the economy.

Kachikwu, who initially refused to speak with the press on possible fuel price hike, was asked repeatedly if there would be a hike in pump price. He simply answered: “Have you seen any memo to that effect?”

On his part, Baru said NNPC had no plan to increase the pump price of petroleum products, emphasising that “there is nothing like that”.

The GMD, however, directed the correspondents to go to the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA‎) for further clarification on the issue.

NAN recalls that oil marketers had indicated intention to increase prices of the products, citing continued scarcity of foreign exchange to finance importation of the products, as reason.