Business
IPMAN Cautions Members Against Hoarding
The charm an of the Mosimi Chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketer’s Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), ADebisi Bada has cautioned members of the association against hoarding of petroleum products, maintaining that the association will not defend any of its members caught for fuel hoarding.
Bada, speaking during the bi-monthly meeting of the association in Mosimi, Ogun State also used the opportunity to deny allegation of fuel smuggling to neighbouring Benin
Republic by its IPMAN members.
“At a meeting I had with the SSS, they told me that some of you are smuggling products meant for distribution to Republic of Benin, though I have told them that it is not logical for anybody to do this; I want to implore all of you to desist from hoarding because IPMAN will not, as a body, defend anybody caught for hoarding, “said Bada.
He blamed the federal government for panic buying by fuel users, which has led to fuel shortage in some states. The inability of the government at the centre to come up with a certain date for deregulation is, according to him responsible for panic buying by fuel users.
The IPMAN helmsman however, absolved fuel marketers for being responsible for fuel shortage, pointing out that the fuel supply to IPMAN members is no longer commensurate with the demand, which panic buying has caused.
Fielding question from IPMAN members, Bada called on the Federal government to fix the four refineries in Nigeria, maintaining that this is one of the way, to cushion the immediate supply shortage, which the deregulation could cause.
With the deregulation, he said, the unitary pricing, where fuel sells at the same price across the country, will stop. He concluded that the fuel price hike, which deregulation is likely to bring about, will be subdued after some period of time.