The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has revealed that its members are facing challenges loading petrol at the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, despite having paid N40 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
IPMAN President, Abubakar Garima, disclosed this during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.
Garima expressed his astonishment over recent statements by Aliko Dangote, the owner of the $20 billion refinery, who claimed that marketers were avoiding his facility in favor of imported fuel.
“We have over 40 billion naira in outstanding debt with the NNPCL. I was surprised when Dangote said he has over 500 million liters of PMS. We are ready to buy the product from Dangote if he is ready to sell it to us directly,” Garima said.
The IPMAN president also refuted Dangote’s claim that independent marketers were importing petrol, clarifying that members of his union rely on NNPCL to supply the product. He stressed that the process could improve if Dangote Refinery allowed independent marketers to register and load directly from the facility.
“If he (Dangote) can be able to sell the product to us directly, we can buy the product, because we have to pay before we pick. Presently, we have ₦40bn under the NNPCL custody but we cannot source the product,” Garima explained.
He further mentioned that some members of IPMAN had recently been sent by NNPCL to load petrol from the Dangote Refinery but were stranded for four days without being able to load their trucks.
Garima emphasized that granting independent marketers direct access to Dangote’s facility could help reduce the pump price of petrol nationwide.
This revelation comes a day after Dangote met with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, where he told journalists that over 500 million liters of petrol were available at his refinery, though marketers were allegedly not purchasing from the facility.
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