Fuel Scarcity Looms As IPMAN Accuses Depot Owners Of Price Hike

There are concerns of looming fuel scarcity as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has raised the alarm over the hike in the wholesale price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol price by private depot owners.

The National Vice President of IPMAN, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, Monday in Abuja said there is a N9 per litre increase which is about 6.08 percent and it is causing a gradual withdrawal of sales at filling stations.

Maigandi said private depots hiked the petrol price from N148/liter to N157/litre, which is discouraging IPMAN members from buying or lifting the products from private depots.

Just recently, the IPMAN Kano chapter warned of an imminent fuel crisis due to a price hike. The IPMAN chairman Kano chapter, Alhaji Bashir Danmallam, in a statement said some of the private depot owners had increased the price of the commodity from N148 per litre to between N153 and N155 per litre.

“We are equally calling on the Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to investigate the issue as some of the private depot owners have since Friday last week increased the price from N148 per litre to between N153 and N155 per litre. We know it’s only the federal government that imports fuel into the country.

“As I am talking to you, private depot owners in Warri, Calabar Lagos, and Oghara in Delta State have increased their prices. We hope the management of the NNPC will investigate and intervene,” Danmalam said.

The Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) officials were not available for comment yesterday on the alleged hike in depot price of petrol.

The spokesman of the NNPC, Garba Deen Muhammad, did not respond to enquiries via multiple platforms to confirm if the corporation, the sole importer of petrol, was aware of the situation.