The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Western Zone, has linked the rise in private depot rates to the increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit at the pump.
This information was provided in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos by Dele Tajudeen, Chairman of IPMAN Western Zone.
While criticizing the hike, Mr Tajudeen noted that the depot price of fuel had gone up from N148.17 per litre to N178 per litre since last week.
He claims that all of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) terminals are empty and that the private depots have increased prices as a result.
“The only option for our members is to opt for private depots, to keep our business moving.
“We are totally against the increase because it will affect our profit margins and the masses.
“Some private depots who have the product, deliberately, refused to sell for reasons best known to them,” he said.
The IPMAN chairman said the marketers should not be blamed for the increase in pump price, adding that “selling at N170 per litre is not realistic”.
Mr Tajudeen said, “Therefore, our members have no other option than to sell between N195 and N200 per litre within Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states, while we will sell between N200 and N210 in Kwara, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti states.
“Most of the tank farm owners have justified this increase because of different charges, among which are vessel charges, paid in dollars.
“We are equally calling on the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to investigate the arbitrary increase in fuel price by the private depot owners,” he added.
The scarcity, according to a senior official of the Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN), who wished to remain unnamed, was caused by a lack of product allocation from the NNPC.
The source claimed that DAPPMA still needed to get supplies for some performance invoices that were with the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC).
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