Nigeria: IPMAN threatens to stop operations over hike in petrol price --[Reported by Umva mag]

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to stop operations nationwide, following the high cost of petrol sold to their Imembers by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Reacting to the hike in petrol price, IPMAN said on Thursday that the cost of petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to NNPC was about N898/litre, but noted that the NNPC was selling the same product to independent marketers at N1,010/litre in Lagos.

The association, which controls over 70 per cent of petrol stations in Nigeria, kicked against this and threatened to down tools, as it also demanded a refund from NNPC for earlier petrol supply payments made by its members. This development may further worsen the petrol scarcity and queues in many parts of the country.

The National Publicity Secretary of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, told Punch newspaper in an interview on Thursday that the association might be forced to take action if the challenge between IPMAN and NNPC was not resolved immediately.

This development followed an earlier revelation by IPMAN national president, Abubakar Maigandi, that NNPC was asking independent marketers to buy petroleum products from its depot at N1,010/litre in Lagos State.

Maigandi, who spoke during a live television interview on Thursday, argued that the price was higher than what NNPCL paid for the product from the Dangote Refinery.

He also noted that independent marketers’ funds had been held by the national oil company for about three months.

According to him, NNPCL purchased the product from the refinery at N898/litre, but it is asking marketers to buy it at N1,010/litre in Lagos; N1,045 in Calabar; N1,050 in Port Harcourt; and N1,040 in Warri.

“Our major challenge now is that independent marketers have an outstanding debt from the NNPC and the company collected products through Dangote at a lower rate, which is not up to N900, but they are telling us now to buy this product from them at the price of N1,010/litre in Lagos; N1,045 in Calabar; N1,050 in Port-Harcourt; and N1,040 in Warri”, Maigandi stated.

He also pointed out that the association’s funds with NNPC had reached N15bn, stressing that marketers were eager to be fully involved in the petrol business and its components following the full deregulation of the sector.

He added, “Marketers want to be fully engaged in the business of petrol and its components. NNPCL has been the one bringing in the product and loading and has an off-take in the Dangote Refinery.

“We are now being allowed to import and there is no challenge on that issue. What we are after is to get the product directly from Dangote and not through NNPCL. Currently, they owe us up to N15bn.”

On Wednesday, the retail stations of NNPCL raised the price of petrol to N1,030 from N897/litre in Abuja, and in Lagos it was hiked to N998/litre from N868/litre. Other locations witnessed similar price hikes, a development that triggered anger among Nigerians.

GIK/APA

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