Fuel Scarcity: We’ll Shut Down Our Filling Stations If.. IPMAN Threatens FG

By Kazeem Awojoodu, Ibadan

IPMAN has threatened federal government to look into their demands to avert closure of  filling stations.

Naijanewshub.com.ng reports that Oyo/Osun chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association Of Nigeria (IPMAN) has vowed to shut down fillings stations across its jurisdictions if federal government failed to address thier various challenges affecting day to day business activities of their members.

Addressing journalists at the IPMAN House located in Odo Ona Area of Ibadan, the Capital City of Oyo state, on Thursday shortly after the general meeting of the association, Alhaji Bukola Mutiu the chairman of the IPMAN for Ibadan Depot which covers the entire Oyo, Osun and some parts of Kwara and Ondo states stressed the need for federal government to address all issues affecting members of the association to avert total closure of filling stations by their members.

Alhaji Bukola in his words said, “At the meeting that we had this morning, we’ve concluded on some certain issues, we are tired of Federal government through NNPC, PPMC because they denied us of our rights, as a registered marketers under PPMC, NNPC Ibadan depot, we are being denied of paying in directly into NNPC purse to get our supply of petroleum products, especially petrol to our various stations, over six months now we have been denied of paying in to the NNPC portal, that led us to go to private depots to buying petrol at outrageous prices.”

“As at today, on the 8th of December 2022, the prevailing prices at all the private depot in Lagos ranges from N215/liter to N233/litre without trucks and other expenses.” He said.

While highlighting the demands of the association from the federal government, Bukola said, “At our meeting today we resolved as following:

“Because of the masses we would have decided to shut down our stations immediately but because of end of the year which entails travelling of the masses, people will travel to celebrate the festive period with their loved ones, we still want to re-emphasize that if government do not do the needful by allowing us to pay into the NNPC portal as marketer to get the official rate of N148:17kb/litre, starting from next week, we will shut down all our stations in Oyo and Osun states.”

“We have also written to the zonal council of IPMAN western zone and we wish that they have replied us by calling for a meeting by next week Tuesday or thereabout to conclude with the entire south west marketer that we would not load again, having said that, other challenges we are facing as a marketer

we are going to private depots to be buying all those products with different addresses. The initiator address will be different from the destination address.”

“The Civil Defence operatives of Oyo state Command are disturbing our drivers and marketers along the road, especially along Ijebu Ode road axis, any marketers that is coming to various stations will be delayed for at least a day or close to a day, challenging that the addresses of the initiator is different to the final destinations, and we took our time to explain to them that the situation on ground we has made to to be buying from the third parties and not NNPC directly as a marketers so if they continue to disturb and harass our members and our drivers we would stop going to buy products from anybody or any private depots.”

“Our third point is that the year is going to an end, NNDPRA has notify us to start the processing of renewal of our licenses and our paper and we are shouting that as at today we are not been given any fair treatment as a marketers and government still want us to be renew our licenses, our documents and our papers and we are saying no to that.”

“If government is failing us by not giving us supply we should not do any renewal of any licenses, documentations or papers, so we are saying all these now to the masses that they should help us in pleasing to the government and all the security agencies and the agency that monitor our activities and businesses that failure on their part.”

“We will not do any renewal of our document or any of our paper henceforth, in the tax clearance issue, we are having challenges on that as well, we the level of amount we are buying our products now, it increases our volume of turn over and whereas we are not getting those profits as expected, and at the end of the year, federal inland revenue will come up with their calculation of the turn up, and this is not in line with the profit we are making, we are saying this so that government can look into that issue and help us out on it as well.”

“NNPC also we come next year to claim that we should go and renew our bulk purchase agreement, that is the bond that tight us together they have failed us, since the begining of this year now we have not loaded a single liter of petroleum products at NNPC Ibadan depot here neither in any NNPC depot in the south west zone of the country so we are saying no slavery era, we are saying no to those mal treated ways of doing things by the NNPC.”

“So we want the masses to understand us that it is because of them that we are still struggling to get petroleum products, we would have shut down our stations of not because of them, and as marketers if they refuse to let us pay into NNPC portal directly we will shut down our stations within our jurisdiction, enough is enough.” Bukola said.