Fuel Marketers Shut Stations, Protest N123/ Litre Price

Fuel marketers yesterday closed their filling stations and declined to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which the federal government on Tuesday reduced the pump price from N125 to N123 per litre, the second slash within a month.

The operators, who are mostly members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) , said that they were yet to recover from the losses they incurred when the federal government on March 18, 2020 reduced the pump price of petrol from N145 to N125 per litre.

When LEADERSHIP visited fuel stations across the country, yesterday, it was discovered that most of the independent marketers refused to dispense the product.

While some shut their stations, others opened but refused to sell to motorists. Some of the attendants said that they were instructed not to sell the product to the public until further notice.

In a few places, where the marketers dispense the product, it was still at the old rate of N125 per litre.

IPMAN, which issued a statement on the development, yesterday, appealed to the federal government to stay action on the implementation of the new pump price of N123.50k for PMS as announced by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) on Tuesday.

The association’s South West zonal chairman, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, who signed the press statement in Abeokuta, Ogun State, said that the appeal was to allow IMPMAN’s members to sell the petroleum products which they had purchased at an expensive price before PPPRA announced the new price regime.

PPPRA’s executive secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu, announced further reduction in the pump price of PMS from N125 to N123.50k per litre.

But Tajudeen, berated the management of PPPRA for announcing another reduction in the pump price of petrol without adequate consideration for the plight of marketers, most of whom he said, run their businesses through bank loans.

He stated that the entire executive committee of the South West branch of the association had directed its members to continue to dispense petrol to customers at the existing pump price of N125 before the announcement of the new price regime of N123.50 announced by the PPPRA.

Tajudeen said: “It is very disheartening to hear that a new price regime is coming to effect without considering the plight of marketers who bought these products at an expensive price.

“We want to categorically state here that the last time when the federal government cut off a whole N20 from the pump price, all of us incurred greater debts. And the federal government needs to know that some of us obtained loans from banks to run this business and we have to pay interest on them.

“We are still struggling with the debts incurred not up to a month ago before another price reduction.

“We however, want to plead with the federal government to please understand with us so that majority of the marketers may not be sent away from business,” he said.

In the same vein, the Kano State chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji Bashir Dan Malam, has directed members of his association not to sell petrol for N123.50 per litre until their old stock is exhausted.

Danmalam told newsmen in Kano yesterday that members of the association would not comply with the new price regime until they have sold their old stocks.

According to him, the last time the federal government reduced the pump price of the product from N145 to N125 per litre its members nationwide lost over N5.5 billion.

He said: “We called on the government to compensate or support our members who incurred the huge losses due to the sudden reduction in fuel pump price but nothing was done.

“But to our surprise the private depots’ owners were paid but none of our members was supported to reduce the losses they incurred. This time around, we will not sell our product until the old stocks are exhausted,” he insisted.

He noted that IPMAN is the largest employer of labour besides the federal government, adding that members of the union would not continue to operate at loss.

Danmalam accused the management of the PPPRA of trying to sabotage the federal government’s efforts to ensure sustained fuel supply and distribution across the country through some policies that could plunge the sector into serious crisis.

“Even though we are happy with the new development and the federal government should be commended for the gesture, but the government should consider the fact that no sane marketer or businessman will continue to operate his/her business at a loss.

“Before the last announcement, many of our members have bought and loaded their vehicles with the product at old prices from Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri and we spend five to seven days before reaching our destinations. So, we are not going to sell the product at the new price until we sell the old stocks,” he said.

In Katsina State, most fuel stations have stopped selling petrol, especially those located in the local government areas and the independent marketers in the state capital.

However, some dispensed petrol to motorists at the old price of N125, while others still sell at N145 with vehicles queuing for the product.

The situation in Imo State is not different as some stations have not adjusted their meters to reflect the present pump price.

Zulum Lambasts Petrol Dealers Over Hoarding

In Borno State, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum, on Tuesday evening stormed some petrol stations in Maiduguri and lambasted their management for hoarding petrol despite warning from government against the practice.

Zulum, in an unscheduled visit to some filling stations, discovered that they were hoarding the product.

The governor’s visit was informed by reports that some marketers had taken advantage of COVID- 19 preventive measures put in place by the government to hoard petroleum products to exploit buyers.

In Yobe State, Damaturu, the state capital, it is only the NNPC mega station, Ngarwama and Chula outlet that sell the product at N125 per liter while others have remained closed.

A resident, Baba Amadu said that “I travelled for about 8kms before arriving at NNPC station to refuel my car. All those stations have the product but hoard it to create artificial scarcity.”

Although Kaduna State is under a 24-hour curfew, which was relaxed yesterday, 95 per cent of the stations have refused to dispense the product.

However, a handful that opened, sold petrol at the old N125 per litre rate

Our reporter who monitored the situation within Kaduna metropolis observed that a litre of PMS sold for between N200 and N300 depending on the location.

Petrol stations in Bauchi State also flouted the directive of PPPRA on the new pump price of N123.50.

When LEADERSHIP visited some stations in Bauchi metropolis, even the NNPC mega filling stations did not comply with the new rate.

Adam Tanko, a manager at NNPC filling station located on Gombe Road in the metropolis said that they had not received any circular ordering them to slash the pump price to N123.50.

Shafa filling stations, AA Rano, AA Kunya and many other filling stations also defied the directive.

In Ilorin, Kwara State, the stations were opened and dispensed petroleum products to customers.

However, the stations still dispensed a litre of petrol at the old N125 official price

A filling station attendant along Sobi Specialist Hospital Road, Alagbado, Sukurah Abdulkadir, said that her station had fuel and was dispensing to customers. She said they still sell a litre for N125.00.

LEADERSHIP observed that there were no queues of vehicles at the filling stations at Alagbado, Murtala, Tanks and Ibrahim Taiwo roads, all in Ilorin, the state capital.

NOGASA Promises Uninterrupted Fuel Supply

Meanwhile,  the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) has pledged uninterrupted supply of petroleum products in the country while the COVID-19 crisis lasts.

This is even as the association declared full support for the federal government’s response to the outbreak and the reduction of fuel pump prices to N125, which has been further slashed to N123.50.

A statement made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday in Abuja, by the national president, Benneth Korie, NOGOSA said that it had followed the event of the outbreak closely since the confirmation of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria.

The association recalled the broadcast message on the COVID -19 pandemic, by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, 29th March, 2020, where he assured that “the whole instruments of government are now mobilised to confront what has now become both a health emergency and an economic crisis.’

“Considering the strategic position of the oil and gas sector in the functioning of our economy indeed, NOGASA operatives while directed to meticulously follow all cautionary practices in containing the spread of this outbreak, are exempted from the lockdown because they are in the category of essential duties,” Korie said.

SOURCE: thenationalreporterng.com