According to Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) members, their group is working with NNPC Limited to alleviate the national fuel scarcity.
Independent marketers have allegedly been stealing fuel from private depots at a price of about N200 per litre, leading to shortages and lengthy lineups at gas stations, claims IPMAN.
As a result, they won't follow the 48-hour directive from the Department of State Services (DSS) from last week.
According to IPMAN Operations Controller Mike Osatuyi, independent marketers can now transport gasoline at N148 per litre.
Osatuyi announced, “Our members have now been allowed to lift petrol at N148 per litre, meaning we can reduce our pump prices. We are committed to working with other parties to tackle the shortage across the country as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives urged the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to enlist the help of the Nigerian Police Force and DSS to guarantee that all retail outlets were selling petroleum at the mandated price.
Saidu Abdullahi (Niger State) introduced a motion in plenary titled “Urgent Need for the Government to End the Current Fuel Scarcity,” which prompted the subsequent resolutions.
Abdullahi, who introduced the motion, said that Nigerians have endured “untold hardships” due to the recent petrol shortage, dampening economic activity and worsening an already bad situation.
According to him, “intelligence reports on current fuel scarcity gathered by our securities agencies indicated that there is a deliberate plan by some oil marketers to derail the effort of the government in the distribution of fuel in the country by hoarding the petroleum products and thereby creating artificial scarcity all over the country.”
“While the fuel scarcity is hurting, some major marketers are selling fuel at the government-regulated price, but some independent marketers who operate in the market have enough petroleum products and are selling at unregulated prices.
“Most of those stations have sold fuel at over N300 per litre. It is observed with dismay that those who are gaining from this artificial fuel scarcity appear to be smiling home due to this ugly development. This has the potency to provoke innocent Nigerians against the government.”
The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) recently made a similar commitment to helping bring an end to the crisis.
The organisation issued a statement, “MOMAN continues to work with other key stakeholders to ensure that we ramp up supplies to our retail sites and return to normalcy as soon as possible. We envisage a rise in demand during the yuletide season and are prepared to work round the clock to keep our stations running.”