THE president of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Prince Billy Harry, has attributed logistic bottlenecks he claimed petrol marketers have been shouldering as a key factor causing fuel scarcity and long fuel queues in some parts of the country.
Harry, who spoke with The ICIR today during an on-the-spot assesment of the current fuel situation in Abuja, said the association had invited the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCLtd) for a meeting to address recurrent long queues fuelled by logistic problems.
“Today, I’m in Abuja to have a first- hand knowledge of what the situation is. I went round six filling stations. Four of them are sellling the product. I bought the fuel myself. The NNPCLtd retail outlet sold it to me for N174 per litre. Others that bought from third or fourth sources are buyng at N189 and N192 per litre respectively.
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“I personally led the compliance team as we are currently doing monitoring in Abuja and other parts of the country to enable us write proper reports and engage the NNPCLtd accordingly. We have instructed our members to write their reports as we move around to monitor and get first-hand experience of what is going on at filling stations,” he said.
He stressed that the logistic bottlenecks have led to the fuel coming in trickles into the country.
“It is going to be better in the coming days.There is logistic bottlenecks. We hope that would be solved and there will be clarifications on these concerns. We are closest to the consumers,” he added.
The ICIR findings gathered that shipowners had threatened to down tools, which would compound the scarcity crisis and further worsened long queues, since the country still relies on fuel importation.
“I urge the NNPCLtd to resolve all the issues. For instance, the product lands in Abuja at N189.50. How do members, apart from the NNPCLtd retail outlets, cope with this and still be in business since there os transportation costs, among others, to contend with?” Harry asked.
The official spokesman of the NNPCLtd, Garba Deen Muhammad, did not respond to calls put to him on the development, when contacted by our correspondent.
In a similar submission, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) threatened, on Monday, October 31, 2022, to withdraw its service due to the incessant increase in the price of petrol in the southeast.
IPMAN said private depots owners were responsible for the hike in petrol price.
In a statement on Monday, October 31, 2022, members of the association said they were buying petrol from depots owners at N185 per litre, adding that if other expenses were added, the pump price of petrol would increase to N200 per litre.
They, therefore, implored the Federal government to revive all the depots belonging to the NNPCLtd in the southeast to enable them get petrol at a regulated price.
The statement reads, “It is no longer news that premium motor spirit, known as petrol, is sold at N200 per litre in the eastern part of Nigeria, including Port Harcourt, Enugu, Owerri, Awka, Uyo, Cross River, Aba, Yenagoa, Makurdi and Lokoja. The real cause of hike in price is the incessant increment in the price of premium spirit from private depot owners. A litre of fuel is being sold to us at the rate of N185 per litre.
“When you add transport and logistics, including the exploitation by Nigerian Union of Petroleum Exporters Association of Nigeria, (NUPENG), in the name of union fee, which is over N120,000 per truck, the price will be more than N200 per litre. Even at N200 per litre, considering the high cost of diesel to power the station and the exploitation from private tank depot owners and NUPENG, our business cannot thrive. Our various associations have met, and we have resolved to withdraw our services.
“Hence, we cannot cope with the harsh environment of doing business, caused by private depot owners and NUPENG. We’re calling on the federal government to revive our various NNPCLtd. depots within the eastern zone to enable us get premium motor spirit at a regulated price.”
The marketers also called on the Nigeria Labour Congress and the management of the NNPCLtd to appeal to the leadership of NUPENG to lessen their burden by reducing the loading fee.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.