Fuel marketers ignore DSS ultimatum as fuel scarcity persists

Despite the ultimatum to fuel marketers to end the perennial scarcity in the country, the situation seems not to be improving as the lingering fuel scarcity is biting harder, crippling socio-economic activities.

According to reports, only a few filling stations were dispensing petrol to motorists at exorbitant prices.

The Department of State Services (DSS) had on 9th December given the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other stakeholders in the oil sector 48- hours to resolve the current fuel crisis.

The DSS warned that it would go after operators that continue the federal government’s effort to make fuel available to Nigerians.

According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the  trip round some filling stations revealed few stations that open for business sold at between N240 and N250 per litre.

When contacted, the Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), North-West Zone, Alhaji Muhammad Tila, blamed the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (NNPCL) for the lingering problem.

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He said NNPCL was the only company responsible for importing fuel into the country, saying that many drivers used to spend seven to eight days on queues to lift the commodity to the north.

“The frustration is too much, sometimes they end up waiting in vain. As such, the last option is to buy the commodity from major marketers at an exorbitant price of N250 per liter, and transport it to the North at the cost of N30 per liter.

Meanwhile, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), Aba Depot Unit, has said that massive importation of fuel is the only solution to the lingering fuel crisis.

The Executive Chairman of the unit, Mazi Oliver Okolo, who stated this after a meeting with the Abia State Commissioner for Petroleum, Chief Sam Nwanganga at the weekend, admitted that the available fuel was insufficient to serve Nigerians.

“We are not expecting anything unless there is a quick intervention where they will give us direct allocations and we can load the product and truck it out. They can bring in more vessels and naturally, the fuel situation would disappear”, Okolo said.

“We are their marketers. We are supposed to have a direct allocation from them which they are not giving us. Rather, they are compelling us to go and buy the product from the tank farms and those tank farms are filling those products at a very high cost.

“A recent payment was N225 per litre in Port Harcourt. Concerning the cost of transport and other logistics, the landing cost will probably be at about N235 per litre and we may be selling at N245 or thereabout. This is a reasonable margin.