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Following the Federal Government’s price modulation that has seen retail pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol reduce from N145 per litre to N125, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN) has called on government to always adhere to due process in making price changes by carrying stakeholders along.
President Muhammadu Buhari , had last Wednesday approved a reduction in the price of Premium Motor Spirit(PMS), petrol and subsequently directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to reduce the Ex- Coastal and Ex-Depot prices of fuel to reflect current market realities.
This was as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in a statement, said the PPPRA would be doing a monthly guide to NNPC and marketers on pricing, in line with prevailing oil market price.
But the Zonal Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), South West, Mr Dele Tajudeen said in Lagos, that the lack of consultation with marketers ahead of the reduction would lead to loss of capital used by petroleum marketers in buying the products. He regretted that the failure of the Federal Government to follow due process before announcing petrol price changes will lead to loss of profit margins for marketers.. ‘‘The negative aspect is that we were not formally informed about the directive, because at any given time, we have products in our underground tanks as we do not wait to exhaust products before we make fresh orders.’’
According to him, many petroleum marketers loaded petroleum products on Wednesday when the directive was announced, and that it would be impossible to sell the products in a day since some petroleum products are still in transit as at the time the pronouncement was made. “The question is what will happen to those products loaded on Wednesday that were yet to get to their destinations. The communication from NNPC is unlike other Federal Government agencies that give a time frame for you to get prepared.
This will translate to great loss for our members because a truck load of 33,000 litres will mean losing N660,000 and if it is a 45,000 litres truck, we will be losing N900,000 on a truck. These losses are for trucks loaded on Wednesday not to talk of products in our underground tanks,” he said. He added that the implication is that the product they have right now would be sold N20 below the cost price, which would translate to more than a billion naira loss across board.
‘‘Our appeal to NNPC and to the Federal Government is that people who loaded last Wednesday and some days ago, should be considered by giving them credit notes, because at this point in time, we need to be encouraged marketers cut across every nook and crannies of the country as opposed to others who operate in city centres alone. Therefore NNPC should consider those who just recently loaded, because there is no way the products would have gotten to their stations.’’
He however expressed the association’s commitment to work with the federal government to see that filling stations revert to the new price of PMS across the country. “People that loaded from either NNPC depot or private depots should be given consideration this is our appeal. As far as we concerned, we do not encourage our members to disobey constituted authority. They should revert to N125. We will help government to ensure that people comply with the directives while appealing to government to look into cases of people who loaded recently,” he assured.
