As hardship persists following the incessant increase in the pump price of the premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called Petrol, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to either sale the product to its members at N900 per litre, or return the money its members deposited before the hike was announced.
IPMAN national president, Abubakar Garima, who stated this on Thursday urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to sell Petrol to its members at the same rate offered by Dangote Refinery.
This is even as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the fuel subsidy crisis, referring to the president as “TPain” in a tweet on Thursday over the lingering hardship in the country
The IPMAN president, who made the demands when he appeared on Channels Television, also demanded a refund of the funds owed to the oil marketers, which have been held by NNPC for the past three months.
He regretted the financial strain the prolonged delay in refunds had placed on petroleum marketers, urging the NNPC to take immediate action.
He said, “Our major challenge now is that already, we have an outstanding debt by the NNPC and the company collected product through Dangote refinery at a lower rate — not up to N900.
“Presently, our money has been with them (NNPC) for almost three months.
“But with the recent changes, we have requested that they sell to us at Dangote price or return our money. That’s the current situation and is the reason for the scarcity. We started negotiation yesterday,” he said.
According to him, the national oil company has directed members of the association “to buy the product from them (NNPCL) at the rate of N1,010 in Lagos, N1,045 in Calabar, N1,050 in Port Harcourt, and N1,040 in Warri”.
He expressed displeasure at the NNPC’s stance that marketers should buy petrol directly from the Dangote refinery
“We have a problem with that because already, we buy products from them.
“So when they made this increment, they told us to add money and buy above what Dangote is selling products to them.
“That is the reason we told them to return our money to our banks so that we can go directly to Dangote refinery and buy, if that’s the case.”
“The NNPC does not sell on credit and we buy products ahead of loading. Anytime they have products, they will call us to collect our products.”
Atiku attributed the current economic challenges facing Nigeria to what he described as the “haphazard and disingenuous approach” of the Tinubu administration to fuel subsidy management.
In his statement, Atiku expressed concern about the escalating inflation rate, stating that it is severely impacting the lives of Nigerians.
He lamented that despite the growing hardship, Tinubu appears unfazed by the plight of the citizens.
Atiku in his X post on Thursday, ln8vk named Tinubu as “T-Pain” for drowning the well-being of Nigerians.
“The haphazard and disingenuous approach of the current administration to fuel subsidy management has been the reason we are in this current economic crisis in the country.
“As things stand, there will be no let up in the escalating inflation rate, which is drowning the material well-being of Nigerians.
“It is even more worrying that T-pain is undisturbed by the hardship in the country,” Atiku wrote.
Nigerians woke up to another shocker on Wednesday morning when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) retail outlets adjusted the pump price of petrol in Lagos, Abuja and oterh parts of the nation.
In Lagos, our correspondent observed that many NNPCL outlets sold a litre of the essential commodity for ₦998, about ₦150 higher than the initial price of ₦855. The sudden increase set motorists and transporters in panic-buying mode as snake-like queues have besieged filling stations.
Many filling stations not owned by the NNPCL immediately followed suit as they also incrementally adjusted their pump prices, with many selling as high as ₦1050 in many parts of Lagos.
In Abuja, the situation was not anyway different as NNPCL retail outlets hiked the price of the essential commodity from ₦897 to ₦1,030.
The fresh increase followed the September 2, 2024 increase by the NNPCL. The retail company had hiked the price per litre of petrol from ₦568 to ₦855, sparking outrage.
Although there has not been any official statement from the NNPCL on the latest increase in petrol prices, the NNPCL mid-September hinted at a fresh price increase when it began loading its first batch of petrol from the Dangote Refinery in Lagos.
