The lineups for Premium Motor Spirit, often known as petrol, became worse on Tuesday, after an earlier decision by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria to close filling stations.
Despite the fact that the instruction was eventually lifted, it was noticed that the order caused gasoline lineups in many sections of Abuja and neighboring states, as hundreds of motorists swarmed the few outlets that dispensed petrol, which were run by large marketers.
On Tuesday evening in Abuja, long lines returned at the two Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited filling stations on the Gwarimpa end of the Kubwa-Zuba Expressway.
Similarly, cars queued for hours at the Shema fueling station on the same route, while several independent marketers’ shops in Abuja and neighboring Nasarawa and Niger states were closed.
The delays, according to oil marketers, were created by misunderstanding induced by an earlier direction to filling station owners by a section of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.
On Tuesday, there was misunderstanding over the instruction issued by the Maiduguri Depot branch of IPMAN asking its members to cease activities.
In a statement he personally signed, IPMAN Chairman, Maiduguri Depot, Mohammed Kuluwu, urged members to cease all activities, however this was disputed by IPMAN’s National Public Relations Officer, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, when marketers in other states began closing their stores.
Ukadike stated that Kuluwu was asked to retract the statement by IPMAN’s National Chairman, Debo Ahmed, because IPMAN was interacting with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority about the concerns raised in the statement.
In the statement Kuluwu had directed marketers to also suspend the payment of ordering products from source until further notice, stressing that the decision was because IPMAN members were sourcing and selling products at a loss, as well as the action of the NMDPRA to impose a non-profitable cost price on marketers.
IPMAN could shut down operations by Monday once the government enforced the N195/litre pump price for petrol on marketers.
The report stated that Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, security agencies and the downstream regulator, had all agreed that petrol be sold at N195/litre.
Oil marketers said the agreement was reached at a meeting in Abuja last week Tuesday, as participants resolved that beginning from Monday, February 6, 2023, the pump price of petrol should not exceed N195/litre, a development which dealers, particularly independent marketers, described as tough due to the high ex-depot price of the commodity.
They had told our correspondent that to avoid having their outlets sanctioned, many filling stations operated by independent marketers could be shut from Monday as it made no business sense to sell a product lower than the cost price.
But Ukadike stated on Tuesday that the move to shut down fillings would not hold due to discussions between IPMAN, NNPC, NMDPRA and other stakeholders.
“We are aware of the notice by the Maiduguri Depot branch and the concerns by other members as regards pricing, but our National President, Debo Ahmed, has called the branches to order and asked them to step down the decision.
“This is because IPMAN is interfacing with NNPC and NMDPRA on these issues and we hope that there’ll be good resolutions among all parties,” he stated.
This came as the Federal Government warned of dire consequences for any individual or group of individuals who attempt to exploit or further cause untold hardship to Nigerians by disrupting the fuel supply and distribution chain across the country.
