The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has raised concerns over the shortage of Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol, affecting its members across the country amidst widespread scarcity.
The Chairman of IPMAN, Ore Depot, Shina Amoo, claimed that the NNPCL, as the sole importer of petroleum products, has not provided sufficient supplies to IPMAN for the past three years, leading to a dire situation for its members.
The umbrella body, which boasts over 3,000 members and controls a significant share of Nigeria’s filling stations, also accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited of failing to supply adequate products to its members.
“There is no supply anywhere. The available supply is poorly distributed. We have been raising concerns about this for a long time. We previously had an arrangement where we enjoyed a 70/30 supply ratio based on our capacity.”
“But now we can’t even talk of IPMAN when it comes to supply. We are not even being considered when it comes to supply. Go around, if you see 50 petrol stations, and you take a random sample, you will discover that only between three to eight would be selling products. And these products we are selling, we are getting them at premium prices. Virtually all the depots we buy from sell to us at prices they want to sell from the neighbourhood of between ₦750 to ₦850.
They stopped supplying IPMAN, and would rather supply DAPPMAN, MEMAN. And the volume they give us cannot handle IPMAN’s activities.”
He said the major problem is fuel subsidies, and NNPCL as the sole importer.
Amoo spoke to the rise in prices of products at the depots after the removal of subsidies, saying if corruption was removed from the downstream system, prices of products would be forced to drop.