Fuel queues on Monday resurfaced in most parts of Lagos State following the decision of some members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to shut down their operations.
Mr Akin Akinrinade, Chairman, IPMAN, Lagos Satellite Depot, Ejigbo, who confirmed the development to newsmen in Lagos said the members took the decision because they could no longer operate at a loss.
Akinrinade said while the government had fixed N165 per litre as the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), the current realities in the market showed that the minimum the product should be retailed at the stations should be N180.
According to him, the current scarcity being witnessed in Lagos is because the majority of petrol stations in the state are owned by IPMAN members who are finding it difficult to operate in a hostile environment.
He said: “As you can see, the queues are back and this is the second time we are witnessing it this year. However, this one is peculiar in the sense that for a particular reason, IPMAN members decided to shut their stations. This is not because we are on strike, but because we can no longer do business under this condition.”
Akinrinade said IPMAN members ought to be getting supply from the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) and had made payments of over N1 billion since October 2021.
He said the products were yet to be delivered forcing members to patronise private depots for products while at the same time servicing loans borrowed from banks for their money with PPMC.
Akinrinade said: “Now, these private depot owners have increased the ex-depot price of PMS from N148.17 to N162 per litre. That is the amount they are selling to us.
“When you factor in the handling charge, transportation and running cost of our stations, you will see that even within Lagos, the minimum we can retail petrol is about N180 per litre.
“We want Nigerians to know that IPMAN members are patriotic citizens and we are not out to sabotage the effort of government because we know this hike in petroleum products prices is not peculiar to Nigeria.
“The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has disrupted the supply chain and the Nigerian government is doing its best to mitigate its impact on our nation.”
He, therefore, urged the government to direct the private depots to revert to the old ex-depot price for PMS or deregulate the downstream sector to allow market forces to determine the price.
Akinrinade also advised the government to expedite action on the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries in order to increase the domestic refining capacity.
He further called for the resumption of pumping products through the PPMC Ejigbo depot, which would enable IPMAN members to get supplies at a cheaper cost.
Meanwhile, a correspondent, who monitored the fuel situation at Oshodi, Ejigbo, Ikeja, Egbeda and Ikotun areas, observed that majority of the filling stations were not selling petrol.
Long queues were seen at the few stations selling with both private and commercial motorists complaining about the situation.
A motorist, Mr Godwin Eke, told NAN that the return of fuel queues was not good for the economy.
“We are spending hours here queuing to buy fuel when we could have been doing something more productive with our time.
“I have not been to my shop since morning because I want to fill my tank, which will last me for the week,” he said.
A commercial bus driver, Mr Aliyu Dawodu, said the scarcity was not good for business, especially as the drivers could not increase their fares.
However, Mr Ayorinde Cardoso, Zonal Operations Controller, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, advised the public not to engage in panic buying.
“There is sufficient fuel at the depots and jetties. As at today (Monday) we have a total of 234,920,127 litres of PMS in various depots in Lagos.
“In addition, we have four vessels in Lagos jetties discharging 186,753,650 litres of PMS,” he said.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Monday blamed the inadequate supply of petrol from the depots in Lagos for the scarcity being experienced in Abuja and other parts of the country.
IPMAN President, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo disclosed this in an interview with NAN in Lagos.
Okoronkwo spoke against the backdrop of resurfacing of fuel queues in some parts of the country, especially in Abuja.
He said that the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine had disrupted the smooth distribution of petrol, also known as, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
According to him, marketers and transporters are now finding it difficult to bridge products to other parts of the country from the depots.
He said: “The huge amount spent in running the diesel trucks to transport fuel is very discouraging because we are running at a loss.
“The current N165 per litre pump price for PMS cannot fit in into the present realities without the pricing template being reviewed.
“We appeal to the government to look into the situation by either reviewing the freight rate or providing palliatives to all marketers to restore normalcy to distribution.
“The palliative can be making diesel accessible for marketers at discounted rates so that we can easily transport products across the country.”
Okoronkwo commended the government for the bridging claims paid so far to marketers, adding that efforts should be made to clear the outstanding amounts.
He said the failure of the NMDPRA to pay the the bridging claims, otherwise known as transportation claims, had forced many of its members out of business as they couldn’t transport the commodity due to high cost of diesel.
Danmalam lamented that non-payment of the claims by NMDPRA for over eight months had crippled the businesses of many of their members as they couldn’t transport the commodity even though it was available, thenewsguru.ng has learnt.
In his words, “NMDPRA is responsible for the payment of bridging claims otherwise known as transportation claims.
He started that failure of the NMDPRA to pay the outstanding claims for about nine months, many marketers cannot transport the product because their funds are not being paid.
He said however that despite the high price of diesel, they manage to supply the petroleum products nationwide.
Thenewsguru.com quotes him as saying further that; “The resurfacing of fuel queues in Abuja is just a tip of the iceberg with regard to the petroleum scarcity.
“Out of 100 per cent, only five per cent of the marketers can supply the petroleum products because of the failure of NMDPRA to pay them.”
He noted that after the amalgamation of DPR, PEF, and PPRA to NMDPRA, the agency had paid them only two times.
Danmalam, therefore, called on the Federal Government to intervene before the situation degenerated into a serious fuel crisis and spread to other parts of the country.
“As leaders, we have to come out to say the truth because our members are suffering from the failure of the agency to pay the fund. This Petroleum Equalisation Fund is our own money we contribute to each litre. This agency is doing more harm than good to us,” Danmalam said.
He said Nigerians should not blame their members for the fuel scarcity but rather ascribe it to NMDPRA.
According to him, IPMAN is not agitating for a transportation fee increase, “we are only clamouring for payment of our bridging claims that is over N500 billion.”
A commercial cab driver Adewole Kufuriji, looked both exhausted and worried. He had spent the entire night of Friday, March 4th inside his car parked along the road close to a filling station around Jakande Estate Isolo, Lagos Nigeria, not because he didn’t have a house to retire to or that his vehicle broke down, but because he needed to refill his near-empty fuel tank to guarantee food for himself and his family, and attend to other exigencies.
The many hours he risked on the road in the dead of the night was responsible for his tired look, but his worry was that this effort proved futile, as he was unable to refill his car and could not work to provide for his wife and three children.
“I wasted seven hours in the queue and still could not buy fuel. The stations don’t sell for more than one hour and before it could reach my turn, they stopped selling. I have parked my car at home because to buy from the black market is expensive and passengers will refuse to pay if you increase the price of transport. I don’t know how I will continue to provide for my family,” Kufuriji said.
Happiness Illiya, a young lady in her mid-thirties resides in one-man-village, a settlement in Nasarawa State close to the Federal Capital Territory border. Speaking with our correspondent, she said transport fares have gone up by at least 50 per cent since the fuel scarcity started, and that commuting to her workplace in the Abuja central area has been physically stressful and financially difficult to cope with, considering she earns N40,000.00 monthly.
“In a day, I spend close to N1,000.00 on transport and there has been no plan to cushion the effects of this fuel scarcity. At the end of the month, I would have spent more than half of my income on transport and have little remaining for food and other expenses. Government should do something to help low-income earners in the country,” Illiya appealed.
For Fumilayo Ajao residing in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, her worry was about the rising cost of foodstuff and other basic commodities like cooking gas occasioned by the hike in transportation. She said surviving in Nigeria is becoming more and more difficult even for the working class, saying she has had to cut down on some expenses in order to cope with the situation.
Despite reassurances from the government, the fuel scarcity which began about a month ago continues to bite harder, causing physical and economic hardship to the populace. Long queues at filling stations persist across many cities in the country both in the day and at night, causing heavy gridlock, with motorists spending an average of four hours to buy fuel.
The hydra-headed reasons for the prolonged fuel scarcity
TNG’s investigation has revealed that the latest fuel scarcity, which was initially thought to be caused by the importation of off-spec gasoline and then panic buying, is now being sustained by a raise in the ex-depot rate from the official N148.77 per litre to as much as N185 by some private depot owners due to prevailing circumstances, including the recent Ship-to-Ship Coordination Charge introduced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) last month.
TNG reports ex-depot price is the price at which depot owners sell the product to retail outlets and fuel marketers across the country. Findings by this newspaper revealed that out of about 130 depots in the country, 21 are owned by the NNPC, with the remaining 109 owned by private entities, and satellite depots, among others.
For about five years running, the NNPC has remained the sole importer of fuel, as most depot operators have been forced out of business due to scarcity of FOREX and the official retail price range of N162-N165, which oil marketers say leaves very little profit margin. So rather than import directly, these oil majors who own private depots buy from the NNPC and resell to retailers.
Petrol import into Nigeria between the 1st quarter of 2018 and the 1st quarter of 2021 (in billion Naira)
Ideally, this should be done at the Corporation’s inland depots to reduce administrative bottlenecks and enable oil majors to sell at the approved N148/litre ex-depot price; but in reality, vessels are discharged at sea and third-party marketers say they incur additional costs such as clearance fees that make it unrealistic to sell petrol at the official ex-depot rate to retailers.
While there have been calls for an upward review of the ex-depot price, the NNPC last month introduced a Ship-to-Ship Coordination Charge of N500,000 for each trans-shipment operation to cover manpower, logistics, among others.
“Please be informed that the NNPC management has directed that effective February 10, 2022, the sum of N500,000 will be charged for STS Coordination fees for each trans-shipment operation involving the NNPC Marine Logistics. A Remita payment request will be generated by our accounts section for each operation to effect necessary payment upon the vessel’s tendering Notice of Readiness,” the letter from NNPC addressed to all oil marketers read in part.
Subsequently, some private depot owners have reflected this additional operational cost in their ex-depot price causing it to soar from the official N148/litre to between N180-N185/litre. In turn, some retailers afraid of being sanctioned for selling above the N165/litre are unable to purchase the product for N180/litre, but in many states like Lagos, Ogun, Delta, Bayelsa, Niger and Nasarawa, some daring retailers have adjusted their pump price to between N200-N250/litre in order to stay afloat, while black marketers sell between N300-N500 per litre.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) had threatened that its members would not distribute products for any depot that sells above the official rate, but defending the increased pump price, Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Benin Depot, Douglas Iyike, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the increment was due to a hike in the ex-depot price of petrol and not any fault of the oil retailers.
“We want to place it on record that the increment is not due to any fault of oil marketers because we can only sell based on the price at which we buy petrol from the depots. There has been an increment in the ex-depot price which has left marketers with no option but to increase the pump price of petrol above the official N165 per litre in recent weeks,” Iyike said.
He added: “We believe that addressing the issue of the ex-depot price should be the focus of NUPENG and not attempting to picket petrol stations, which might lead to a breakdown of law and order”.
Sources at the Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment, the regulatory body in charge of ensuring that oil marketers operate within the approved standards told TNG that some oil majors like Total, Oando and Conoil who appear to sell at the official N165/litre, short-change the public by exceeding the tolerable error limit of 300-500 millimetres to above one litre.
“The standard for measurement is 20 litres. So what that means is that for every 20 litres of fuel you pay for, you are getting 19 litres. Total is the worst as they sometimes have up to 2 litres error, depending on the location of the station. It is difficult to enforce sanctions such as sealing of the station or revoking of certificates at a time like this because the consumers are willing to pay for it,” one source said.
In addition to these challenges, there has been an increase in the global cost of crude oil, from a market price of N234 ($0.61) per litre last year, to N310 ($0.74) per litre this month as the market price of a barrel of crude hit $118. Nigeria’s N17.126 trillion budget for 2022 and the supplementary budget of N2.56trillion for subsidy were anchored on an oil price benchmark of $62 per barrel.
The NNPC has been importing fuel at the market price and selling at N162 ($0.42) per litre through a subsidy intervention, but analysts fear that the country could go bankrupt if oil price continues to soar and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), the IMF and World Bank have advised Nigeria to stop the fuel subsidy scheme to free resources for development.
Reacting to the escalating price of crude oil at the international market, President Muhammadu Buhari said at the opening ceremony of the 5th edition of the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2022) that the trend presents a unique revenue opportunity that Nigeria must seize.
“Crude oil prices are on the rise again after turning negative in April 2020. It is a great opportunity for us as a country. With the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in place, there should be no excuses. The enabling investment environment, which has been the bane of the industry has been taken care of by provisions in the PIA,” Buhari said.
On his part, Chairman of MOMAN Adetunji Oyebanji, explained that: “The benefit of a liberalized downstream is the most visible means of growing the economy in the medium to long term. Nigeria can become the refining hub of West and Central Africa and eventually the whole of Africa if we stick to this path of investing in new refineries, adopting a cost optimization initiative, building an environment that promotes competition and creates a sustainable petroleum sector.
“These actions would lead to increased employment, reduced poverty and reduced social inequity. We must take advantage of the opportunities brought by the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) and fully benefit from our barrels of crude, getting the maximum value it can bring Nigeria”.
Promoting Local Refining of Crude Oil through the PIA
Refineries in Nigeria are key national assets, and experts believe it is in the national interest if they are optimally run from a commercial perspective. The NNPC has four refineries – two in Port Harcourt (PHRC) and one each in Kaduna (KRPC) and Warri (WRPC), which together have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.
Despite the fact that the country has expended N1.47 trillion running and maintaining them between January 2015 to June 2020, these facilities have remained largely moribund, as the capacity utilization of the three refineries was put at 4.88 per cent in 2015; 11.92 per cent in 2016; 18.13 per cent in 2017; 10.13 per cent in 2018 and 2.19 per cent in 2019.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) establishes a new reality for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry Section 32 (e, f) empowers the NNPC to provide pricing and tariff frameworks based on a fair market value and not set or dictate prices and tariffs or pay subsidies.
In a bid to implement the Act, the Nigerian government had only provided subsidy for the first half of 2022, but the plan to remove subsidy was met with stiff resistance from labour unions that threatened to ground the country, compelling the government to extend the subsidy to the second half of 2022 through a supplementary budget sent to the National Assembly.
However, oil and gas expert Omowunmi Iledare, said subsidy removal would not only lessen fiscal budget debt financing but will also reduce drastically, FOREX volatility with less pressure from petroleum import demand on FOREX and in the long run encourage competitive pricing at the pump.
“There are those who will argue that if PIA 2021 is implemented within the context of petroleum price deregulation, there is going to be societal misfortunes – diminished energy access and affordability in terms of multi-dimension energy poverty index (MEPI), rising public transport fares, disproportionate income redistribution among the poor, inflation, and public discontentment.
“Nevertheless, the benefits of deregulation far outweigh the highlighted misfortunes in the long run. Political expediency trumping economic efficiency and effectiveness must not render PIA helpless in this debate,” Iledare argued.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, recently decried the huge subsidy spending, as he explained that Nigeria was a net importer of refined petroleum products and that this was counter-productive in terms of the rising prices of crude.
“In Nigeria right now, we are a net importer of petroleum products and when the prices of crude oil go up, they also affect the prices of petroleum products,” Sylva said.
On his part, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, insists that the transition “must have sanity” and guarantee the most-friendly fuel for the country in the short term of 10 years.
To this end, many Nigerians eagerly anticipate the commencement of the Dangote refinery, which is expected to begin processing of crude oil in the third quarter of 2022 at 650,000 barrels per day, equivalent to 102 million litres of oil per day, to meet Nigeria’s current 60 million litres per day consumption level.
In the meantime, the PIA stipulates that market forces should determine the price of fuel and many Nigerians view the current situation as a way of “testing the waters” before the total deregulation of the downstream sector; and they are bracing up for the challenges ahead.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has warned that it would take another two weeks for the supply of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as gasoline or petrol, to normalize.
Adding: “No inland depot has received clean petrol that would boost supply to filling stations.”
IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, on Monday, said the Federal Government was yet to improve supply.
In his words: “Nothing much has changed in the last few days, the issue is that up till now we have not seen the intervention of the NNPC based on evacuating these products (bad fuel) from some of our stations. Some marketers are trying to see if they can get new products and blend them to see if they can move.
“Marketers’ capitals have been tied down and the bad product is also occupying their storage tank and that is why you are seeing some skeletal services. Some also have their tanks quarantined, so it is not easy.
“We have been expecting products in the inland depots like the Port Harcourt Refinery depot but up till now, no product has been received. These things happen. Once there is a break in the supply chain it will take some time to fix.
“Forget what people are saying it will take one-two to three weeks to fill in the gaps. It is talking about evacuating and replacing, it is not just about the shortage, it is also about evacuating and replacing.”
According to him, Port Harcourt has not witnessed the acute shortage being experienced in many parts of the country.
He said most of the marketers who have placed orders have not received supply.
The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has warned against the planned inauguration of a parallel National Executive Committee (NEC) on Jan. 18 in Abuja.
Mr Tunji Adeniji, the Secretary, IPMAN Board of Trustees, gave the warning in a statement issued on Monday in Lagos, describing the proposed .parallel NEC as an illegal.
Adeniji said the warning was necessitated by reports of a plan to inaugurate new NEC members by some individuals.
He said the BoT led by Alhaji Abdulkadri Aminu has notified the security agencies of the situation, describing the move as a flagrant violation of the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in Abuja on Dec. 14, 2018.
The BoT secretary said that the judgment read by Justice Musa Muhammad in suit No. SC15/2015 recognised Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo and Alhaji Danladi Pasali, as President and Secretary of IPMAN, respectively.
Adeniji said that the tenure of the executive would expire on Dec. 14, 2023, adding that IPMAN had already zoned the next president of the association to the North-West.
He said that any attempt to install another set of persons as NEC of IPMAN was null and void because the matter had been settled by the Supreme Court which was the final arbiter of justice in Nigeria.
Adeniji added that the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, and the Inspector General of Police, Mr Usman Baba, have already directed that the judgment must be complied with.
He called on the security agencies to apprehend those behind the move to forestall breakdown of law and order.
According to him, IPMAN as an association has only one registered Board of Trustee (BoT) and registered constitution with the Corporate Affairs Commission
TheIndependent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), said yesterday, that its support for the Federal Government over the planned removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), stems from the realization that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on August 16 makes no provision for subsidy.
Besides, IPMAN President, Chinedu Okoronkwo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that his association has consistently “advised the government to remove petrol subsidy because it is not in the interest of development of the downstream sector.”
But the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) threatened, yesterday, to shut down the country should the Federal Government go ahead with the planned fuel subsidy removal.
The students’ body also rejected the government’s plan to pay N5,000 transport allowance to 40 million Nigerians to cushion the effect of soaring fuel prices.
Okoronkwo, in the NAN interview, said: “We welcome the decision of the government to stop subsidising petrol by 2022 and we are hoping it will attract more investments to the sector, especially with the passage of PIA.”
He added: “What we want is that a level playing field be provided for everyone in the sector to encourage competition once the subsidy is removed.”
Also speaking on the issue, the immediate-past President, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Tunji Oyebanji, said continued subsidising of petrol was not sustainable in light of current economic realities.
He said the 2022 deadline was realistic and its impact might be mitigated with the coming on stream of the 650,000BPD Dangote Refinery, Bua Group Refinery, Waltersmith Refinery and other modular refineries.
Oyebanji, who is the Managing Director of 11 Plc, however, faulted the plan to replace the subsidy with cash transfer to Nigerians due to lack of a reliable data base in the country.
“In my personal opinion, I am of the view that such funds should be channeled to areas like education and mass transportation that would be accessible to ordinary Nigerians,” Mr Oyebanji said.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has advised the public not to engage in panic buying of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol as fuel scarcity presently threatens Kano, Nigeria’s second largest city.
In an effort to calm fray nerves, the NNPC said it was also not aware of any plan by government to cause an increase in the pump price of petroleum.
A statement on Monday by Garba Muhammad, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, in Abuja, said that the NNPC had over 1.7 billion litres of petrol in stock.
According to Muhammad, more of the product is expected to arrive into the country daily over the coming weeks and months.
He said it was therefore unnecessary to entertain any fear of scarcity of petrol throughout the festive season and beyond.
“The NNPC is also not aware of any plan by government to cause an increase in the pump price of petroleum. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has made that declaration last week.
“In view of these assurances therefore, the NNPC is advising motorists and other consumers of petrol to maintain their regular pattern of the purchase of petrol without getting into a panic situation that may send the wrong signals around the country,” he said.
According to him, the NNPC is also engaging all stakeholders to ensure smooth supply and distribution of products to every part of the country during the festive season and beyond.
Scarcity of fuel looms in Kano; as many filling stations remain closed
Meanwhile, motorists in Kano State are experiencing fuel scarcity, as long queues have resurfaced at filling stations in the State.
An investigation conducted by NAN Correspondents indicated that majority of the filling stations visited within the metropolitan area were under lock and keys.
The investigation further reveals that only a few filling stations were selling at the control price of N165 per litre.
The situation was, however, characterised by long queues and filling stations selling only with one or two pumps to customers in spite of the long queues.
The situation outside Kano metropolitan area is not different as majority of the stations outside Kano city remained closed while the a few ones operating were selling at above Government-approved price.
In Tsanyawa, Bichi, Dawakin-Tofa and Gwarzo Local Governments, reports indicate that the marketers sell the PMS at N174 per litre which is above the approved price by the government.
A lot of motorists were left with no option than to purchase fuel from black marketers at higher price, ranging from N1,000 to N1,500 per four-litres gallon, depending on the location.
Alhaji Idris Abdullahi, a motorist, said he went round the town to buy fuel on Saturday evening but couldn’t get any and the situation forced him to buy from the black marketers.
According to Abdullahi, he bought a four-litre gallon of fuel at N1,100, against the former price of between N700 and N800.
Malam Muazu Kafar-Na’isa, a driver, also added that he bought four litres of fuel at N1,500 at Tsanyawa on Sunday evening.
He urged the Federal Government to hasten measures that would restore the normal pump price of fuel in order to lessen the burden on the masses.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Kano branch, had alerted the government over a plan by some private deport owners to increase fuel prices in the country.
Alhaji Bashir Danmallam, IPMAN branch Chairman, Kano state, was quoted as saying in a statement recently in Kano that the decision would cause fuel crises in the country.
He alleged that such private deport owners had already increased the price of the product from N148 to N153 and N155 per litre.
“The association found it necessary to alert the government in order not to blame our members in the event they increase the price of the commodity, as they will not sell at a loss.
“We are equally calling on the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to investigate the issue with a view to proffering solutions,” he said.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has directed its members to withdraw their services from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) loading depot in Enugu.
The National President of IPMAN, Alhaji Sanusi Fari, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, in Enugu, added that the directive was in response to an alleged attack and invasion of the IPMAN secretariat in the Enugu depot, on Thursday, by men of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
The president said that the invasion and attack were carried out with impunity and against a subsisting court order.
“Sequel to this ugly development, the National Executive Committee of IPMAN has resolved and directed the withdrawal of our services at Enugu loading depot with immediate effect.
“This will stop our services to members of the public in Enugu, Anambra, and Ebonyi from Sept. 17 until the police illegality is reversed,” Fari said.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Enugu Command, ASP Daniel Ndukwe, denied that operatives of the command blockaded or attacked the IPMAN secretariat in Enugu.
Rather, Ndukwe said that detectives from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Abuja, were on an investigation trip to the IPMAN office to serve the association’s members invitation over a court matter.
Recall that the South-East had been grappling with an acute shortage of petroleum products, following a strike by petroleum tanker drivers in the area.
The situation had increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the area as a litre currently sells between N250 and N300 in most petrol stations.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) is neither planning to go on strike nor planning to shut fuel stations nationwide, its National President, Alhaji Sanusi Fari, said on Monday.
He said in a statement issued in Awka and signed by the association’s National Secretary, Mr Chidi Nnubia, that the public should dismiss any information regarding the planned strike.
The association’s National Public Relation Officer, Alhaji Yakubu Suleiman, had threatened in Abuja on Monday that IPMAN would go on strike and shut fuel stations nationwide beginning from Tuesday because the police laid siege on its secretariat.
Suleiman alleged that some police officers laid siege on IPMAN’s National Secretariat last Friday for undisclosed reasons.
He said that aggrieved IPMAN members and officials at states, zonal and depots levels, held series of meetings and threatened to shut filling stations if the issue was not properly addressed.
Suleiman also advised government and security agencies to “halt impunity in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry’’.
IPMAN’s National President, Alhaji Fari, however, urged petroleum dealers and the public to ignore Suleiman’s position.
He also advised the public not engage in panic buying of petroleum products.
“We wish to inform the general public that our members have no plans to shut down any petrol station in the country as there is no reason to take such action.
“Our members are directed to disregard a publication by some persons whose stock in trade is to sabotage the efforts of the Federal Government and the PPMC to provide uninterrupted supply of petroleum products nationwide.
“We ask the general public to ignore any information emanating from any unscrupulous individuals attempting to hijack the association for their selfish and profiteering adventure.
“Those individuals lack the capacity to call off our services as they are illegally parading themselves as officers of the association in total disregard and disobedience of a Supreme Court judgment of Dec. 14, 2018.
“We enjoin the public to go about their normal activities as we continue to support the Federal Government through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC to ensure availability of petroleum products across the country,’’ Fari said in the statement.
The IPMAN president condemned attempts by some groups within the association to blackmail the government by calling out marketers for nationwide protest.
Fari said IPMAN was working harmoniously with sister organisations including the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) workers and the National Association of Road Transport Owners.
He added that IPMAN was also working in harmony with the Petroleum Tankers Drivers unit of NUPENG to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products nationwide.
Fari stressed that any aggrieved member not satisfied with the Supreme Court order should return to court and not resort to an empty threat that might make the motoring public to engage in panic buying of petroleum products.
