IPMAN chairman reveals fuel price hike by NNPC…says, it sells to marketers at N1,010 per litre
The National President of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Garima, has revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has asked oil marketers to buy petroleum products from its depot at N1,010 per litre in Lagos State.
According to him, the price is drastically higher than the price at which the oil company bought the products from the Dangote Refinery.
Garima disclosed that the NNPCL bought the product from the refinery for between N800 and N900 per litre, but is asking marketers to sell at N1,010 per litre in Lagos, N1,045 in Calabar, N1,050 in Port Harcourt and N1,040 in Warri.
The IPMAN boss stated this on Thursday when he appeared on ChannelsTv Sunrise Daily.
Recall that NNPC retail stations had, on Wednesday, raised the price of petrol from N897 to N1,030 per litre in Abuja. In Lagos, it was hiked from N868 to N998 per litre. Similarly, the prices were also increased in other locations. This has fuelled anger among Nigerians.
The price hike, the second in one month, represents about 14.8 per cent or N133 rise.
Analysts have observed that in less than 17 months of President Tinubu’s administration, fuel price has risen by over 430 per cent since May 29, when it came on board.
Nigerians who had expected cheaper fuel prices following the commencement of the naira for crude sales, since Dangote Refinery unveiled its product recently, are disappointed and frustrated.
The IPMAN boss, however, attributed the recent adjustments in the price of fuel to the impacts of the deregulation of the oil sector.
“Well, we know now that we cannot call it an increase, but rather, we can call the removal of subsidy deregulation. Now, deregulation has started taking place fully,” he said.
He added: “But our major challenge now is that independent marketers have an outstanding debt from the NNPCL and the company collected products through Dangote at a lower rate which is not up to N900 but they are telling us now to buy this product from them at the price of N1,010 per litre in Lagos, N1,045 in Calabar, N1,050 in Port-Harcourt and N1,040 in Warri.”
While explaining why the marketers haven’t approached Dangote to get the product at the same price, Garima disclosed: “We have a problem with that because we have booked products through the NNPCL, and suddenly, when they decided to increase the price, they are now asking us to add more money to buy above what Dangote is selling to them.
“We have informed them to return our money to our banks so that we can go directly to Dangote for our supply. Presently, our money is with them, for about three months. We buy our products from them before loading. NNPC doesn’t sell on credit and when products are available, they call us to pick them up.
“But with the recent changes, we have requested that they sell to us at Dangote price or return our money. That’s the current situation and is the reason for the scarcity. We started negotiation yesterday.
“Dangote is selling to them around N800 to N900 and we are asking that it should be sold at that same price. We can decide to sell at a lower price of N1,020 or N1,010.
“We also refused to buy it because they bought it at a cheaper price from Dangote but want to sell it more expensive than the amount they currently sell at their stations. This is a great challenge because this will mean our price will be higher, and it also means they would have a profit of over N100 per litre.”
“Marketers want to be fully engaged in the business of petrol and its components. The NNPCL has been the one bringing in the product and loading and has an offtake in Dangote Refinery.
“We are now being allowed to import and there is no challenge on that issue. What we are after is to get the product directly from Dangote and not through NNPCL. Currently, they are owing us up to N15bn” Garima said.
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