The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has demanded a refund of N15 billion from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, following the full deregulation of petrol pricing and the NNPC’s withdrawal as the sole off-taker of petrol from Dangote Refinery.
IPMAN President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi Shettima, made the demand in Abuja, stating that if the NNPC’s current pricing is higher than that of Dangote Refinery, the national oil company must refund the payments made by independent marketers.
Shettima, in an interview with Channels TV, criticized the NNPC for requesting additional payments from marketers despite not supplying the product for which they had already paid.
“It is unacceptable for NNPC to ask us to add more money after withholding our payments for months without supplying the product,” Shettima said.
He explained that independent marketers have been unable to load a single truck since the NNPCL raised its pump price, leaving them in a precarious situation.
“Roughly, the amount we have paid is almost N15 billion. Our money has been with the NNPCL for nearly three months, and they have yet to provide the product we paid for.
“Now, they are asking us to pay the difference,” Shettima added.
Dangote Refinery rate…
He called on NNPCL to either sell the petrol at the same rate it receives from Dangote Refinery or refund the money so that independent marketers can source the product directly from the refinery.
He said: “When they made this increment, they told us to add money and buy above what Dangote is selling products to them.
“That is the reason why we told them to return our monies to our banks. We can go directly to Dangote Refinery and buy, if that’s the case.”
The demand comes as the industry adjusts to the new realities of a fully deregulated market, with marketers now seeking to operate independently of the NNPC’s pricing model.
According to Shettima, “As independent marketers, we cannot load. Since they made this increment, we did not load a single truck because we have to pay cash before we load the products and the cash down is already with NNPC.
“NNPC refused to load us. They told us to complete the difference and that is not a small thing because there are some formalities we have to follow before we do that.”
FG blames petrol prices hike on…
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has distanced itself from the hike in petrol prices, blaming it on global market volatility.
Speaking with journalists, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, explained that the decision was made by the NNPC due to prevailing conditions in the global energy market.
Idris said that the Federal Government no longer controls the pricing of petroleum products, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.
His words: “The NNPCL made this decision based on market realities and not on any instruction from the government.
“Since the removal of the subsidy in May 2023, NNPCL has been absorbing the price differential to maintain the current range.
“But the company has now reached a point where it can no longer sustain those losses,” Idris stated.
He further attributed the price hike to external factors, including the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, which has caused market volatility.
“The prices of petroleum products are rising globally, and NNPCL, being a limited liability company, cannot continue to operate at a loss,” he added.
The minister called for public understanding, assuring that despite the temporary challenges, the price of petrol would eventually stabilise and come down in the future.
VANGUARD
Comment here