IPMAN laments petrol supply shortage to marketers

• says thousands may lose jobs’

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says the petrol supply shortage in the south-east region may not end soon.
The association said the petrol scarcity is due to challenges faced by marketers in procuring the commodity.
The situation has led to increased pump prices as petrol was reportedly sold for between N400 and N450 per litre at filling stations in Awka, Anambra state, on Friday.
Black marketers were also said to have sold the product for N500 – N600 per litre.
In an interview with NAN on Saturday, Chinedu Anyaso, chairman of IPMAN, Enugu depot, said the quantity of petroleum products entering the south-east had reduced by more than 50 percent.
He said most filling stations in the state were closed while the few that opened for sale had to cope with long queues.
According to Anyaso, some marketers have been unable to get the supplies they paid for over a month ago.
“Our members who got NNPC allocation last year, paid for products since December, up till now they have not received their supply. Rather, they asked them to pay additional money for which most of them made overdraft of between N1.4 million and N1.6 million,” he said.
“As you can see, most filling stations in the zone have shut down because they can no longer source products normally.
“Those that have products had to pay through their nose to get it, that is why there are abnormal rates because they have to recover their cost and make some profits.
“It is impossible for the authorities to enforce price now because they are supplying products, our people are making extra effort to ensure our people have products to buy even if it is expensive.”
Anyaso said thousands of employees may lose their jobs as no marketer would continue to pay workers when they are not in business.
He urged the federal government to take drastic action to make petroleum products available to citizens.