By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The South West zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has said it will direct its members to increase petrol pump price to N180 per litre.
IPMAN zonal chairman, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, who stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday, said that the price of diesel per litre would equally be increased.
Tajudeen said that the step would be taken if the appropriate regulatory agency of government did not address the issue of irregular supply of products to its members.
He explained that members of IPMAN in the zone had been unable to buy petroleum products from any of the government depots, adding that they had resorted to getting supplies from private depot owners, who according to him had capitalised on the situation to exploit them.
Tajudeen lamented that all the depots in the zone had refused to load trucks belonging to its members since January 2022, stressing that the private depot owners’ loading price is between N157 and N158, above the price that government depots would sell to them.
“So, by the time we add the cost of transportation to the purchasing amount, we will be arriving at a sum above N165, which is the government-approved pump dispensing price.
“But sad enough, the regulatory agency appeared incapacitated to control and compel these private depot owners to sell at the government’s approved price for us.
“As of today, the purchasing price of diesel has increased by 400%. Again, I want members of the general public to know that cost of transporting the product ranges between N6 to N8 and N10 depending on where the products are being transported to from the Lagos private depot where we make purchases.
“I wish to equally intimate you that making purchases from these private depot owners is not the ultimate end, we also have some overhead costs to bear like running an electricity generator to power our filling stations; paying the staff salaries, as well as servicing the bank loans among other costs.
“So, by the time we have to add the cost of transportation with the purchasing amount, this situation clearly implied that we as independent marketers will be left with no other option than to dispense the products for nothing lesser than N175 to N180 for customers in the Lagos to Ibadan axis, while those within the Ogbomoso and Ilorin axis may have to buy at a dispensing pump price of N200 per litre.
“Now, we want to let members of the general public be aware that the fault is not coming from our end, rather, it is the failure of the regulatory agency to direct the government’s depots to sell the products for us at their depots and at the government’s approved price,” the statement added.
