IPMAN hinges erratic petrol availability on allocation issues

The Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says petrol availability has been erratic because of the small allocation currently allotted to its members by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

IPMAN National Vice President, Alhaji Hammed Fasola, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Tuesday.

Fasola says the allocation issue has led to haphazard operations by its members, who now buy from third parties (private depot owners) at prices they can no longer afford.

According to him, NNPC has been the one bringing the product to the country and sharing it with major marketers until the involvement of the private depot owners.

He added that there had been a shortfall in the supply of the product because NNPC would naturally supply its retail outlets first.

“That is why you see a kind of on-and-off situation from the independent marketers’ filling stations.

“We still get some trucks directly, but it is very inadequate for the number of marketers we have.

“We are waiting for when the product will be available, especially through NNPC depots and the Port Harcourt refinery, and by the time Dangote comes up with its petrol, that is PMS.

“We believe that all these problems will be solved,” he said.

However, he said the association would continue to engage NNPC because it had been a long-term partner.

“We are very positive that when things come back to normal, they will be giving us our due allocation,” he said.

On the issue of subsidies, Fasola said he believed there was no more fuel subsidy because the government had said so.

Supreme News reports that many filling stations are not selling due to the unavailability of the commodity.

Others, who open for business intermittently, sell between N620 per litre and N700, with NNPC retail outlets selling at the official rate but with queues.