The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has issued a warning about a potential fuel shortage that could impact the entire country. Alh. Okanlawon Olanrewaju, the National Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, raised this alarm during a press conference in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, on Friday.
Olanrewaju expressed serious concerns over the fuel pricing set by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), stating that the prices being charged to marketers are excessively high.
He revealed that NNPC plans to sell fuel to marketers at N1,010 per litre, which is even more than the price at which NNPC sells fuel at its own outlets.
“The challenges IPMAN is facing in the downstream oil sector are quite alarming. We have realized that the pricing NNPC is imposing on us is too much,” Olanrewaju said. He emphasized that this pricing strategy is creating a difficult situation for marketers.
“NNPC wants to sell at N1,010 to IPMAN. This price is even higher than what NNPC sells at its retail outlets, even when you factor in transportation costs. This is a very challenging situation for us.”
He further explained the financial strain this places on marketers, noting, “We may not be able to survive in this situation because we’ll still need to sell to the same public. It feels like they want to label us as bad marketers.”
Describing the current situation as “unacceptable,” he reiterated the association’s stance against the price increase. “We don’t fully understand why this is happening, but we will not accept it. This approach will not work,” he asserted.
Olanrewaju highlighted the financial burdens already on marketers, revealing that they have collectively paid around N15 billion into the NNPC account over recent months without receiving the fuel.
“This payment is for about two to three cargoes at the old price of N750 per litre. Now they want to increase the price after several months,” he lamented.
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He explained that the NNPC is requiring additional payments from marketers before they can access the fuel. “They’ve asked us to top up the money we’ve already paid before we can pick up the product. This has become a common practice. We cannot continue this way.”
Given these challenges, he confirmed that the IPMAN leadership has instructed all members to stop making further payments until the situation is resolved.
“Our president has directed that every member of IPMAN should hold off until further notice, as we will be having our National Executive Council meeting next Wednesday.
This means that marketers will not pay that money until we have a discussion,” he stated.
Olanrewaju acknowledged that this directive could lead to a disruption in fuel availability. “It could likely disrupt fuel distribution because if we stop picking up product for a while and we exhaust what we have, there will definitely be a shortage,” he warned.
As the situation develops, the possibility of fuel scarcity looms large, raising concerns for both marketers and consumers. The upcoming NEC meeting is expected to address these urgent issues and outline the next steps for the association.
