Oil marketers under the aegis of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have explained that its members needed to sell their stock of petrol at the new prices to remain in business.
IPMAN revealed that many of its members have gone out of business due to the removal of fuel subsidies as they were unable to raise money to load from depots and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
This was made known by IPMAN President, Chinedu Okoronkwo, while speaking on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, where he stated that its members immediately increased the pump price of petrol from over N500 per litre to over N617 per litre on Tuesday morning to stay afloat.
Okoronkwo said with the price adjustment by the NNPCL on Tuesday morning, independent marketers raised their prices at retail outlets to match the reality of the times.
We need to be in business.
Okoronkwo said,
- “You need to be in business. If you go back, you will go and buy at a new price. Assuming you are selling N520, then there is a sudden change from where you are getting it, you have to still be in business.
- “Some of my members have gotten to the level of putting products in their tankers, and all of a sudden, there was information that the price has changed. They didn’t load them again. Some are even battling now to see how they can load on that old price and now the new price.”
The IPMAN boss said the timing of the price increment was not the issue but the government must work on how to mitigate the effect of the price adjustment and ease the pressure on the dollar.
However, an ex-President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Peter Esele, faulted the IPMAN boss.
Esele, who was also a guest on Channels Television’s programme on Wednesday, said petrol marketers are taking advantage of the situation to make extra profit, arguing that it is only morally right that marketers sell their old stocks for the old price.
What you should know
Recall that President Bola Tinubu during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, announced that fuel subsidy is gone as there was no provision for that in the 2023 budget from July 1.
The announcement by the president immediately led to the increase of the pump price of petrol from N184 per litre to about N500 per litre.
Again, Nigerians woke up on Tuesday and were shocked to realize that the price of petrol had been adjusted at fuel stations across the country, including those of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
In Lagos, the NNPC filling stations are reported to be selling the product at around N565 per litre, while some other stations sold higher. This is against the initial price of between N488 and N490 per litre at NNPC filling stations.
The product is reported to be sold higher in Abuja at N617 per litre or even more.
Meanwhile, NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, on Tuesday, blamed market forces for the rising pump prices of petrol.
He said with the deregulation of the oil sector, market realities will force the prices of petrol up sometimes and at other times force prices down.
