IPMAN demands petrol price below ₦900 or refund from NNPC
Abubakar Shettima, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, to its marketers at the same rates provided to Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
In an interview on Channels Television Thursday, Shettima also requested a refund of funds owed to oil marketers, which have been held by the NNPC for the past three months.
He stressed the financial strain that the prolonged delay in refunds had placed on petroleum marketers, urging the NNPC to take immediate action.
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“Our major challenge now is that we already have an outstanding debt with the NNPC, and the company collected products through Dangote refinery at a lower rate — not up to ₦900.”
“Presently, our money has been with them (NNPC) for almost three months.
“But with the recent changes, we have requested that they sell to us at the Dangote price or return our money. That’s the current situation and the reason for the scarcity. We started negotiations yesterday,” he said.
According to him, the national oil company has directed IPMAN members “to buy the product from them at the rate of ₦1,010 in Lagos, ₦1,045 in Calabar, ₦1,050 in Port Harcourt, and ₦1,040 in Warri.”
Expressing displeasure at the NNPC’s stance that marketers should buy petrol directly from the Dangote refinery, Shettima said: “We have a problem with that because we already buy products from them.
“So when they made this increment, they told us to add money and buy above what Dangote is selling products to them.
“That is the reason we told them to return our money to our banks so that we can go directly to Dangote refinery and buy, if that’s the case.”
“The NNPC does not sell on credit, and we buy products ahead of loading. Anytime they have products, they will call us to collect them.”
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
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