The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has rejected the ex-depot price of petrol by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
IPMAN President, Abubakar Maigandi, on Thursday urged the NNPCL to sell petrol to its members at competitive rates based on what is offered to it by Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Maigandi, while speaking yesterday on Channels Television, also demanded a refund of the money owed to the oil marketers, which he said had been held by the NNPCL for the past three months.
This came barely 24 hours after the NNPCL hiked the price of petrol.
The national oil company raised the price of the product to N1,030 from N897/litre in Abuja and hiked the same to N998/litre from N868/litre in Lagos.
Other locations witnessed similar price hikes, with millions of Nigerians lamenting that they have been pushed deeper into difficulties.
The IPMAN president stressed the financial strain that the prolonged delay in refund had placed on petroleum marketers, urging the NNPCL to take immediate action.
“Our major challenge now is that already, we have an outstanding debt by the NNPCL and the company collected product through Dangote refinery at a lower rate — not up to N900. Presently, our money has been with them (NNPCL) for almost three months”, he said.
Also speaking with the BBC Hausa Service, IPMAN’s chairman in the northern region, Alhaji Salisu Tantan, said that the NNPCL bought the product at N898/litre from the Dangote Refinery but was selling at over N1,000.
“We are really shocked that they (NNPCL) sold the product to us far and above what we expected,” he said.
He said it was practically impossible for them to sell the product at lesser price to the populace at this point in time, considering that they must also bear the transportation cost.
Asked why they were unable to lift the product directly from the Dangote Refinery, the IPMAN chieftain said they were doing their best to achieve that mileage.
“There is a special arrangement between NNPCL and Dangote; they give him crude oil; he also pays them in naira. It will be difficult for us to key into this kind of arrangement with ease,” he said.
However, an official of the NNPCL last night defended their action, saying the latest hike was in relation to the international oil market and the exchange rate of the naira against the dollar.
Malam Lawan Sade, who is the Managing Director of NNPCL Trading Company, told the BBC that the chances of the petrol price to come down was high, especially when the government owned refineries that are being rehabilitated come on board.
Sade said oil prices fluctuate in line with global demands, and that as a private entity, the NNPCL was responding to the vagaries of demand and supply.
“We are appealing to Nigerians to bear with us…It shall be well in the fullness of time,” he said.