The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Tuesday directed its members to commence importation of refined petroleum products as the Federal Government had pledged to pay outstanding subsidy.
The National President of IPMAN, Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, disclosed in Lagos.
Okoronkwo said the directive followed assurances from government and to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians from the ongoing national scarcity of petrol.
According to him, we have had series of meeting with government agencies that are saddled with the payment of subsidy claims and we have been assured of prompt payment.
“IPMAN members have been instructed to commence importation of petrol into the country to avert the lingering fuel scarcity.
“The Ministers of Petroleum and Finance have assured us of prompt payment of the marketer’s money; we urge Nigerians not to engage in panic buying of petrol as adequate petrol will be in circulation soon,’’ he said.
The IPMAN boss, however, warned its members to desist from hoarding petroleum products, adding that the association’s surveillance teams would monitor compliance nationwide.
He said the association would penalise marketers indulging in hoarding of petroleum products and other sharp practices.
Okoronkwo said that joint taskforce by IPMAN and the NNPC had been set up to monitor petrol retailing as part of efforts to stabilise supply.
“We will not hesitate to sanction any errant marketer caught hoarding the product.
“A joint taskforce by the NNPC and IPMAN had been set up to monitor filling stations and sanction them accordingly.
“With the quantity of petrol pumped into the country and distributed to stations by the NNPC, the corporation has indicated serious commitment to ensure effective product supply.
“l want to confirm to Nigerians and marketers that with the level of petrol injected into the country by the NNPC, there is no cause for panic buying and hoarding of petrol.
Okoronkwo also insisted that refined petrol supplied to each depot was enough to address the nation’s current petrol supply challenges in the zone.
“Once again, we have been assured by the NNPC that petrol supply will be sustained in the depots.
“I enjoin marketers to join hands with the NNPC to wet the market with product and shun hoarding,’’ he said.
He lauded the programmes of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of NNPC, saying that without them the sanity in the downstream oil sector would not have been possible.
He advised the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to give import licences to serious marketers who were willing to import petrol.
The management of NNPC on Monday began fresh measures to halt artificially induced petrol scarcity in some parts of the country.
The corporation said it planned to import more than one billion litres of petrol in March to address short fall in supply.
To stop the scarcity and its effects, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) threatened to clamped down indefinitely any petrol filling station engaged in hoarding.
Mrs Chioma Njoku, Operations’ Controller for Lagos Zone of the agency, made the assertion in Lagos.
Njoku said that the agency’s surveillance teams would clamp down on filling stations hoarding petrol or selling above the approved rate of N87 per litre.
According to her, the department has been inundated with complaints from the public on the arbitrarily fixing of petrol prices above the government approved rate.
She said such actions of the marketers negated the rules of engagement, stressing that DPR would sanction any outlet that indulged in illegal acts.
Njoku also charged marketers of petroleum products in Lagos to ensure that the products supply and distribution to the public met the recommended specifications.
She said that DPR had sanctioned some erring marketers caught hoarding petrol and engaging in other sharp practices.
“We have embarked on a monitoring exercise across Lagos since Monday in view of the current scarcity and discovered that some marketers were capitalising on the situation to make huge illegal profits.
“While some filling stations were under-dispensing, others were found hoarding products.
“We have compelled some of the marketers to begin selling of products immediately and sealed those that failed to comply,” she said.
Nkoju said the DPR would have sanctioned many more stations that were caught with sharp practices but decided to warn them due to the situation at hand.
She said also that the current scarcity was artificial and that the DPR would continue to ensure compliance at the filling stations and depots across the country.
“A lot of filling stations is hoarding petrol. We know we have enough petrol at the depots to go round but we found that some are hoarding.
“This exercise will continue till normalcy returns to the system and the DPR is ready to sanction more marketers and seal more depots that are found wanting,” she said.
In a related development, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has appealed to NNPC to increase the supply of petroleum products to its depot in Apapa.
Mr Tokunbo Korodo, the Chairman, South-West Chapter of the union, said in Lagos that the product was hardly available at the NNPC Apapa depot.
“Our members are eager to collect the product from the depot but there is hardly any product at the Apapa depot.
“Even some private depots that have the product are selling at more than the stipulated price.
“It is of no use for our members to be coming to the depot on daily basis without loading the product,’’ he said.
Korodo said that there were issues on ground for the union to go on strike but because of the coming general elections and the present scarcity, they decided to suspend the idea.
“We have labour issues with Chevron Company, Total Oil and even the Federal Government but we decided to wait and see the end of this scarcity.
“Let it be known that our tanker drivers are not on strike, we are ready to go the extra mile to end this scarcity.
“We appeal to the Ministry of Finance to resolve whatever they have with oil marketers so that importations of products will commerce.
“The NNPC cannot supply the product all alone,” he said.
Meanwhile, long queue of vehicle at most Lagos petrol filling stations persisted on Tuesday as motorists rushed to buy the available product.
More filling stations along Ikorodu road, Oshodi-Apapa expressway and Orile area of Lagos were on Tuesday opened to motorists.
At Cele Bus stop along Oshodi Apapa expressway, motorists were seen queuing as early as 6 a.m. at petrol stations that open for sales at 8 a.m.
Mr Kole Badmus, a resident of Ilasamaja area of Lagos, appealed to marketers to reconsider their earlier position and commence the importation of refined petrol.
Badmus said that the appeal became imperative following the suffering of Nigerians across the nation and the exigencies of the rescheduled general elections.
The NNPC had on March 2, introduced fresh measures to halt what it described as artificial petrol scarcity noticeable in some parts of the country.
NNPC had earlier announced plans to import more than one billion litres of refined petrol in March to address short fall in national supply.
