The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has called on the Federal government to compel private depots to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at its controlled price.
IPMAN’s President, Alhaji Debo Ahmed, asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to import sufficient petrol and insist that the private depots must sell to marketers at the regulated price of N148 per litre.
His called for stiff measures in the petrol market came amid worsening scarcity across the country.
Reports say marketers sell above pump price in cities, where there is no enforcement of the regulated price, thus denying the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of sufficient supply.
The product that has been consistently scarce in the last two weeks in the FCT, recorded its worst on Monday as about 80per cent of the retail outlets were not opened to customers.
Black marketing thrives amid the surge for the product as some of the illegal dealers sell it in 10-litre plastic cans for between N3,000 and N4,000.
Ahmed, however, said while some of the NNPC-owed depots stopped functioning last year, others closed shops this year.
“Some of the NNPC depots stopped selling since March. Some of them since last year; almost all the depots,” said. Ahmed.
The situation, said the IPMAN chief, has been accountable for marketers’ recourse to the private depots.
-Media Report