Debo Ahmed, the national president of IPMAN, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, stated that there will still be a shortage of gasoline until all countrywide depots are able to distribute it to marketers without any delays.
According to Ahmed, it is challenging for marketers to obtain the goods across the nation because the government-owned depots in the interior are either still without gasoline or are running out.
On Monday, July 4, checks around Abuja revealed that many gas stations were closed, with large lines seen at a few stations operated by significant marketers.
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The IPMAN Chairman added that marketers were dependent on privately held depots at the coastal areas for gasoline and that the current shortfall was a direct result of insufficient supply across the nation.
He clarified;
Even this is not enough as most of them do not have the product. I can tell that all the 25 government depots do not have petrol. The problem we have now is that of insufficiency of the product. We need the country to be wet with petrol. The only way to end the crisis is for NNPC to import more of the product and make it available to marketers.
We are just a link in the market, we do not import petrol. If petrol is available, we will buy and sell to our customers, which is why we are in business.
The other thing is for the government to ensure that the private depots sell to marketers at government-controlled price because presently we are loading at N158-N163 per litre which makes it practically impossible to sell at N165 per litre.
There is also the high cost of doing business. Now we use diesel in all our operations, from moving the trucks from the depots to the stations and for operating the pumps to sell to customers.
The IPMAN Chairman further enumerated the reasons behind the increase in fuel prices and while the current situation might persist.
He stressed;
Diesel is currently N800 per litre, it used to be N300 per litre, and you cannot compare both scenarios. We are finding it very difficult to operate and that is why many stations are closed and the scarcity will continue until the government addresses these issues.
Ahmed also urged the government to pay bridging claims adding though the process was continuous, it is important that past claims are paid to marketers.
He noted that while the recent increase in freight rate would help the marketers, the huge gap remains, adding;
Let them pay the accumulated bridging claims. It is not enough to just increase the rate; accumulated claims should also be paid.
