Tuesday, January 05, 2016

Marketers Defy Fed Govt Directive On New Pump Price



From Port Harcourt in Southsouth to Damaturu in Northeast; Owerri in Southeast and Akure in Southwest, the story was the same yesterday.  Filling stations defied the Federal Government directive on the new price regime it introduced for petrol. They sold above the approved pump prices of ₦86 and ₦86.50.

The Nation report continues:
But the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) warned that erring marketers would have themselves to blame if caught in act.
Still old price in Port Harcourt
Many filling stations in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, were yet to comply with Federal Government’s directive on the new petrol pump price of ₦86.50 per litre yesterday.
A visit to some filling stations in the city of Port Harcourt showed that a litre of petrol was selling for between ₦120 and ₦140.
Some marketers justified the pump price be saying they were selling old stock, they claimed was bought at a higher price from private depot.
But, there were no queues at some of the the stations including the stations branded Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), where the product sold at the regulated price.
At a private filling station on Aba Road, the manager, who pleaded for anonymity said the proprietor of the station directed that attendants to dispense a litre of fuel at ₦120.
He claimed that they were yet to exhaust the stock they bought at higher price, promising that their pumps would be adjusted to the new price regime as soon as they get a new delivery.
Other stations on Ada-George Road, Rumueme in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area were selling above ₦120, with some as high as ₦140 per litre.
Some of the customers who protested yesterday when The Nation visited one of the erring filling stations wondered why the marketers refused to comply with the Federal Government directive.
Attempt to speak with any of the managers proved abortive as they all declined to comment.
At a station belonging to a member of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) on Ikwerre Road, Mile 1, Diobu, consumers bought for between N120 and N130.
One of the customers, Mr. Fred Chukwudi, told The Nation that it was unfortunate that many filling stations in Port Harcourt were still selling at the old price.
Chukwudi said: “The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) gave the pump price of petrol effective from January 1 as ₦86.50 per litre but I know marketers won’t comply. We’re calling on the Federal Government to ensure compliance if not these stubborn marketers will not meet to adjust the pump price.”
DPR officials accused of connivance in Imo
In Imo State, commuters alleged that officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) were colluding with members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN) to sell a litter of petrol at ₦150.00.
The price is ₦69.50 higher than the ₦86.50 approved by the Federal Government in the new pump price regime, which became effective on January 1.
Alleging that IPMAN members compromised senior DPR officials with monetary inducements, motorists accused the officials of looking the other way while products were sold above the approved pump price.
Mike Ikendu, one of the motorists lamented:  “We have complained to DPR but they keep giving excuses. Sometimes, when they come to the petrol stations, they go straight to the station manager’s office and thereafter drive away without doing anything.
“We are still buying petrol at ₦150.00 per litre and it is difficult for us, and the DPR is not helping matters. We are appealing to the Federal Government to come to our aid and set up a team to monitor the activities of these corrupt officials sabotaging the efforts of the government.”
When The Nation visited some petrol stations within the state capital city of Owerri, the approved pump price was displayed on the dispensing machines but the attendants sold products at ₦150.00 per litre.
When contacted, the DPR zonal coordinator in charge of Imo State, Mr. Innocent Akpamgbo, said he has been away on holiday and was unaware of what was going on.
He said: “I have been away on holiday but when I come back, my boys will tell me what is on ground.”
Attendants shut stations in Akure
Residents of Akure, the Ondo State capital yesterday lamented the non-availability of petrol following the refusal of members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to open their filling stations to customers.
Majority of the filing stations visited by our reporters in Akure were deserted by attendants.
It was learnt that the oil marketers’ decision was informed by their resolve not to sell the product at N86.50 as directed by the Federal Government.
Some of the residents, who besieged a fuel station on Oyemekun Road, were seen returning with their empty plastic containers. They looked after being told by the attendants that there was no fuel.
The few ones that opened for business had long queues despite selling the product for between ₦120 and ₦140 per litre.
A manager of one of the locked filling stations said he has been directed by his boss not to open for business.
He said: “The owner of the station asked me to close our station because we learnt that the government want to force us to be selling at ₦86.50 per litre and we did not even buy the petrol at ₦86.50 at the depot. So, how can we sell at the official price?”
When contacted, local chapter Chairman of IPMAN at Ore Depot, Mr. Bayo Olowokere, explained that many marketers did not open for operation because they had no product to sell at the federal government’s regulated price of ₦86.50 per litre .
Olowokere, who said the 50k reduction of the price was ridiculous, said the Federal Government cannot force IPMAN members to sell at the regulated price because they did get supply at regulated price.
He said: “As I am speaking to you, in Ore, no marketers has bought the product at the regulated price. Though the reduction is ridiculous, but the question is that are we getting the product at the regulated price? That is what we are fighting for.”
He said most of the independent marketers were buying at different private depots across the country as a result of the insufficient supply of the product from the NNPC depots.
Petrol sell for ₦87, above in Badagry, Seme
Most petrol stations in Badagry, a Lagos suburb, were still selling petrol at either ₦87 per litre or above as against the approved pump of ₦86.50, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said yesterday.
The pumps at the stations belonging to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in the Badagry axis still displayed ₦87 per litre.
However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) retail outlet sold the product at ₦86.50 per litre.
Some motorists urged officials of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to check the activities of some of the stations in Badagry.
Mr. Jeff Madubike, a businessman, lamented the situation, saying it had seriously affected his business.
His words: “Most stations in this area only open at night and they sell for N100 per litre or above and this is not meant to be so.
“They usually lock up their stations in the day time only to sell at night. The agency of government authorized to check the excesses of these independent markets need to visit Badagry and sanction them.”
A commercial motorcyclist Ahmed Musa alleged that most stations had fuel in the underground tanks but they were hoarding the product.
“The government should come to our aid in Badagry,”’ he said.
Fuel diversion in Yobe
Members of the Yobe State Petroleum Task Force yesterday announced the recovery of one truck of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) diverted from Damaturu, the state capital, to Gombe State.
Task Force chairman Ali Garga told reporters in Damaturu that his men traced the movement of the consignment to Gombe State and confronted the marketer who was unable to give any reason of diverting the product.
Garga, who said the marketer was forced to return the product to Damaturu, also condemned the activities of some security operatives, who impersonate members of the task force to engage in sharp practices at petrol stations in Damaturu.
He called on them to desist from coming close to the stations to intimidate the general public by jumping queues to get undue advantage.
The task force chair said: “Only the DSS personnel are members of our committee. Those security agents who go to the filling stations to molest innocent people to buy petrol should please desist from such act.”
Only last week, military officials clashed with DSS personnel at a filling station on Gashua Road, Damaturu.
It took the intervention of senior officers of the two sister-security agencies to reconcile the operatives.
Before the fight, motorists had stayed for hours in the queue to force their way into the stations to get fuel their cars only to and empty the tanks to sell at black market rate in front of the fillings stations, repeating the process over and over again.
As at yesterday, some filling stations including those belonging to Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) had complied with the new petrol price regime. The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) members were still selling product at ₦120 per liter.
DPR, PPMC, DSS to enforce full compliance
FOR the umpteenth time, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) warned marketers selling petrol above the approved pump price of N86 and N86.50 of the consequences of non-compliance with the new price regime.
It warned that products of any erring marketer would be dispensed free of charge to members of the public whenever caught by a secret monitoring team raised to enforce the new price regime.
DPR’s Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Dorothy Bassey, berated what she called the unpatriotic attitude of some marketers, accusing them of sabotaging Federal Government’s effort to ensure petrol supply to consumers at regulated prices.
The DPR spokesman however noted Nigerians should assist the monitors by volunteering information on the recalcitrant marketers and their retail outlets.
According to her, members of the public should give detailed information of any defaulting filling station, including their names, locations and where possible, the photographs of the prices displayed on the signboards and pumps.
She said told The Nation last night: “We have constituted a specialized taskforce that monitor filling stations to fish out defaulting marketers. This taskforce is an intelligence unit comprising representatives of the DPR, Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) an arm of NNPC, and State Security Service (SSS). Members of this monitoring unit pose as motorists seeking to buy fuel.
“These defaulting marketers capitalize on the season to sell above the approved price but we are working round the clock and all hands are on deck to stem this trend. When we catch any defaulting filling station, we no longer shut such stations down; the punishment is that we dispense the entire product in the station free to the public.
“It is unfortunate that some marketers are just out to sabotage the Federal Government’s efforts but we will deal with them. I urge the public to give us full information about defaulting retail outlets to enable us act.”
Announcing the new price regime last week, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu reportedly said: “So, for the first time, people will understand that the pricing modulation I was talking about is not a gimmick. The objective is that one, we cannot afford to continue to subsidize. We cannot even understand where those subsidies were going to. There are a lot of fraud elements in it, so we need to cut that off.
“At today’s price, there is no subsidy and this is why I have gone away from the use of the word ‘subsidy’ and have continuously said that I am more on the page of price modulation.”
The Federal Government reduced petrol price to reflect the current price of crude at the international market.
But for the ongoing conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two major oil producers, which has pushed crude price from US$36.53 a barrel last week to US$37.76, the price hovered around US$33 and US$35 a barrel.
The open market price for a litre of petrol as at January 1 as released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was ₦85.10.
PPPRA template for PMS as at January 01
Landing cost 70.80 per litre

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