Marketers Threaten To Stop Lifting Fuel In S’West

Fears of another round of fuel scarcity are thickening as independent marketers in the South West geo-political zone have threatened to stop dispensing fuel in their outlets their week.
The marketers who gave the threat said they have been running at a lose and would not continue to operate under such a condition.
The IPMAN chairman in the South West Zone, Mr Debo Ahmed, lamented that its members were buying the product from private depots at an exorbitant price.
“The result of this is that about 90 per cent of our members who can no longer continue with the business, have already stopped lifting fuel while the remaining 10 per cent have threatened to also close shop if nothing was done to remedy the situation.
“Unfortunately, we cannot sell above the pump price of N145 per litre in the South West if we don’t want to incur the wrath of the Department of Petroleum Resources,” he said, adding that their colleagues in the South South, South East and in the North were running their own business because they are selling above the pump price.
He appealed to the Federal Government to fully deregulate the petroleum sector so that individuals could buy and sell the product at a price considerate enough to keep everyone in the business.
Also speaking, the IPMAN chairman of Ore Depot branch, Mr Shina Amao, also confirmed the development adding that the problem is attributed to the non-functional stateof NNPC-owned depots where the product could be bought at N133.38.
Amao urged government to resume the pumping of fuel to the NNPC-owned depots in Ore, Ibadan, Ejigbo and Warri so that his members could buy at the official landing cost of N133.38 as against the N145 per litre at the private depots.