IPMAN Flays Committee’s Action On Filling Stations

The Independent Petroleum Marketers in Anambra State have
flayed the sealing-off of four filling stations in the state by the Committee
on Petroleum Monitoring last week, saying it was not the duty of the committee
to enforce prices.

The Chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association
of Nigeria (IPMAN) Enugu Zone, Chief Linus Mgbakaogu, made the condemnation in
an interview with our correspondent in Awka on Thursday.

He warned that marketers would no longer accept further
harassment from the state committee, noting that it was the duty of the
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to monitor their business.

Mgbakaogu said that marketers in the state were doing their
best to sell fuel at N97 per litre, adding that those who sold above the pump
price were those who bought from DAPMAN and other sources.

“Our members have made it categorically clear that we are
not going to entertain unauthorised persons to visit our filling stations for
the purposes of enforcing and taking samples.

“Our business is on the exclusive list. The Federal
Government created DPR and Weights and Measures to monitor bad products pricing
and to check under dispensing and over dispensing.

“They have skilled and trained personnel to handle these
aspects of the business. They are the legitimate agencies that can make
technical statements on petroleum products,” he stressed.

The Chairman of petroleum products’ marketers in Anambra,
Chief Osita Ofodile, said the state government‘s insistence that dealers should
sell at N97 per litre of petrol could not be sustained, pointing out that
marketers would not be able to guarantee stocks afterwards.

“The commissioner has said that if we cannot sell at
government price, we should not buy, and you will not blame us if there is
scarcity because we cannot sell below our cost price.

“Government should not concentrate its energy on demand side
only, it should tackle supply side too,” according to Ofodile.