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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