The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has blamed government for the current fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.
Its national president, Aminu Abdulkadir, who stated this yesterday in Abuja during the emergency meeting of the national executives, said the non-payment of accumulated fuel subsidy claims owed marketers in the past nine months by government was responsible for the current impasse in the oil sector.
He directed members to cooperate with the NNPC by ensuring efficient distribution of petroleum products supplied by the Corporation and deliver same to the various filling stations.
Addressing members at the expanded meeting, Abdulkadir said “the current contraction in the supply of the products is a result of non-payment of marketers’ subsidy.”
He said: “The non-payment of the quarterly, especially, Quarter 4, which is completely not paid, is a big challenge to us. Our national consumption today is being supplied by the NNPC.
“They have stepped up their supply trying to do what every stakeholder is supposed to be doing, but it is evidently clear that they alone cannot do it.”
Abdulkadir disclosed that his men were “now moving products from coastal areas to the hinterland through roads,” admitting that congestion at the terminals in Lagos was slowing down product evacuation to the northern and eastern parts of the country.
On the alleged diversion of the products by marketers, the IPMAN boss said “the products are never diverted to another country, but are still being sold to Nigerians within Nigeria.”
