…As Reps demand immediate end to hardship
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, on Tuesday, adopted new measures aimed at guaranteeing adequate fuel supply across the country, by fixing N148 per litre as the price for lifting the prodcut at depots.
It also agreed to supply outstanding stock to independent oil marketers, to end product shortage.
But the independent marketers claim to be lifting the product from private depots at about N200 per litre, making it impossible to meet the Department of State Services (DSS) 48-hour directive last week.
The situation, they further argued, makes it impossible to sell petrol at the N170 per litre like their major marketers’ counterparts and NNPCL.
Reports say a meeting was held between NNPCL, marketers and all the stakeholders, where the issues were resolved.
The Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), Mr. Mike Osatuyi, said: “Our members have now been allowed to lift petrol at N148 per litre, meaning that we can now reduce our pump prices. We are committed to working with other parties to tackle the shortage across the country as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has urged the NNPCL to end the lingering scarcity of petroleum products in the next week to ease the suffering of Nigerians.
The House also urged the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to collaborate with the Police and DSS to ensure that fuel is sold at the regulated price at all the retail outlets.
The resolutions followed a motion entitled: “Urgent Need for the Government to End the Current Fuel Scarcity,” moved by Saidu Abdullahi (Niger State) under matters of urgent public importance at plenary.
Presenting the motion, Abdullahi noted that in the last few months, Nigerians have been subjected to untold hardships caused by petrol scarcity, affecting economic activities and making the already trying times in the country more difficult.
He said: “Intelligence reports on current fuel scarcity gathered by our securities agencies indicated that there is a deliberate plan by some oil marketers to derail the effort of the government in the distribution of fuel in the country by hoarding the petroleum products and thereby, creating artificial scarcity all over the country.
“While the fuel scarcity is hurting, some major marketers are currently selling fuel at government regulated price, but some independent marketers, who operate in the market have enough petroleum products and are selling at unregulated prices.
“Most of those fuel stations have resulted in selling fuel at over N300 per litre. It is observed with dismay that those who are gaining from this artificial fuel scarcity appear to be smiling home as a result of this ugly development and this has the potency to provoke innocent Nigerians against the government.”