Fuel scarcity: We buy petrol from third party at inflated rate, says IPMAN

Fuel scarcity: We buy petrol from third party at inflated rate, says IPMAN

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has demanded 50 per cent petrol allocation from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited as a condition to reduce prices and queues in filling stations.

IPMAN National Vice-President, Hammed Fasola, stated this, saying members were buying fuel at inflated rate from the third party.

Speaking with NAN on this issue, Fasola said the fuel scarcity was due to low allocation.

He said if IPMAN members received petrol directly from NNPC, the price per litre would be more affordable for Nigerians, and help reduce the queues at filling stations.

He said IPMAN members were selling petrol at higher prices because they purchased the product at inflated rates from third parties.

The vice-president said the association has submitted its stance on petrol allocation to the NNPC, requesting that it be increased to 50 percent, as it was in the past.

“It is not that we don’t get at all, we are getting a little, and when you compare our number in this sector; our members own 80 percent of the filling stations. In the past, it was not like this,” Fasola said.

“We had a share of 50 percent but recently, things have changed, and we are trying to talk to the authorities, especially the NNPC that they have to correct that abnormality.

“We are still trying to address the issue. This is why the independent marketers are selling at a higher price, which is not good for our image.”

Fasola said its members were being forced to buy petrol from private depot owners, which they find unacceptable.

“We go there sometimes, and they will sell at N720 per litre, and in their own stations, they are selling N620 or N650 per litre; you can see the disparity and the public will not understand,” he said.

“This is why we are trying to educate the people that we are not shrewd business people who want to milk Nigerians.

“Some filling stations have closed for business because they can’t cope – this is the situation we found ourselves in; until the government corrects it and everybody is on the same level.”

He appealed to the NNPC to rectify the allocation issues so that IPMAN members can obtain fuel directly and fairly, benefiting both the marketers and the public.

On the purported increase in petrol price, Fasola dismissed it as “fake news,” stating that the association has not received any official information regarding such a change.

On July 8, queues for petrol resurfaced across filling stations in Lagos and the federal capital territory (FCT).

Speaking on the situation, Clement Isong, executive secretary at Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), said the delay in loading petroleum products at depots was a contributory factor to the situation.

On its part, NNPC said the petrol queues in the FCT were caused by the disruption of ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of petrol between mother vessels and daughter vessels.