The Edo State chairman, Benin Depot of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association Nigeria (IPMAN) Baba Abdul Saliu Egele, absolved independent marketers of blame in the current lingering nationwide scarcity of petroleum products.
Egele who spoke in Benin City said that the high cost of fuel is due to the fact that independent marketers buy at an exorbitant price from private tank owners.
Egele lamented that instead of the regulated official price of N148.17k per litre from private tank owners, the price goes presently goes for between N170 and N180, adding that the only way independent marketers can break even is to sell above the government approved of N165 per litre.
The Benin Depot chairman blamed tank owners for forcing independent marketers to buy a tanker load of diesel for every petrol tanker load, lamenting that even when they buy the diesel load, they are not still guaranteed a tanker load of petrol.
Against the backdrop of the harsh economic reality in the country, Egele said that most independent marketers can hardly get by, noting that they are forced to spend so much money on diesel which they don’t really need.
He said: “The scarcity and subsequent high price of fuel is not the fault of independent marketers. We buy at a very high price from private tank owners. There is no way we can sell at the approved price of N165 per litre. It is only the major marketers with their own tank farms that can afford to sell at the approved price.”
As a way out, he charged the federal government to repair the nation’s moribund refineries, adding that the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries will put an end to the incessant hike in the prices of petroleum products in the country.
Egele reiterated the determination of IPMAN to engage and collaborate with the government and other relevant agencies in the oil and gas sector to fix the depots and refineries.
“If the refineries are fixed, crude oil would be refined in the country and that will help to reduce the incessant increment of pump prices in the country”, he said.
