Union Cautions On Hoarding Of Petroleum Products

The Trade Union
Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has cautioned Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) against hoarding petroleum products across the country.
Speaking to The Tide on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, TUC state Chairman, Comrade Chika Onuegbu, said it was completely unfair for any group of people to hoard petroleum products from the generality of motorists across the country.
Onuegbu said the union remains resolute in its call on the government to ensure the nation’s four refineries operate optimally for the availability of the petroleum products.
He said IPMAN as a body should consider the plight of motorists and direct their members to open up their filling stations to the public rather than hoarding petroleum products under the guise of scarcity.
Onuegbu said the union in collaboration with other stakeholders set up a monitoring team to monitor any filling station in the state that has refused to open up its station.
He called upon the government to ensure the availability of petroleum products. Meanwhile, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has claimed that the fuel scarcity being experienced in parts of the country was caused by the two rounds of naira devaluation carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the executive secretary of PPPRA, Farouk Ahmed, while speaking in Abuja recently said the CBN devaluation was carried out between November 2014 and last month.
Ahmed said the devaluation caused huge confusion in the oil sector as PPPRA did not know the exchange rate to use for payment of fuel importation.
He said the recent fuel scarcity has to do with the delay in the arrival of cargoes, stressing that non-arrival of cargoes made it difficult for premium motor spirit (PMS) to be delivered.
He said the crisis had eventually been resolved after a meeting with relevant stakeholders.
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