Unions Explain Persistent Petrol Queues

Some oil sector unions have blamed the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) for the persistent petrol queues being experienced across the country.
Speaking to newsmen at the tarmac of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), in Suleja depot, the Chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alhaji Salihu Butu, said his members were paying higher for petroleum products.
According to Butu, IPMAN has 80 per cent of retail outlets (fuel stations) but gets 10 per cent products alongside buying above the ex-depot price to keep their stations open and in business.
A source told newsmen that DAPPMA gets the product at N117 from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the sole importer, and sells to marketers at N152 instead of the ex-depot price of N133.80.
According to Butu, the private depot owners do not sell to us at the official price. We buy at the unofficial price. How do we break even?
“Our stations sell at N180-N190 because when you get to the depots you are presented with two accounts for payment: one for the actual price and the other for the extra, otherwise you cannot lift”.
Proffering solutions to the problem, Butu said only President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly could intervene in the fuel situation.
“Only President Muhammadu Buhari can solve this. He should come in, people trust him. When he increased price, people accepted, no questions asked. We knew it was for the better.
“The National Assembly also should invite all aggrieved members to get to the bottom of this.
“There should be equity in distribution. NNPC depots should be stocked back to back. Only Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) is loading.
“Mr Umar Ajiya of PPMC held meetings with us. We decided to cooperate and so I went to Aba, Warri, Mosimi and found that our members are given two-three trucks to share.
“To keep their stations open and stay in business, our members have to buy. All these should be looked into,” he said.
The Secretary of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch of NUPENG in Suleja, Mr Yakubu Ibrahim, told newsmen that if the government should provide infrastructure, security checks that caused gridlock along the way, the queues would have disappeared.
“Jebba to Mokwa is less than 100km (about 45 minutes drive) yet our members spend five hours there. Another gridlock is on the Agaie-Lapai-Lambata route.
“Another issue they can look into is the security checks. They cause gridlock of 10-15 and sometimes 20km. Our members spend two days on those spots.
“Like now we are waiting for them here and they are there. The check points are too many.
“The security agents keep stopping the drivers to dip, check specimen, or collect bribes even without having the right apparatus to check. All these cause unnecessary gridlocks,” Ibrahim said.
The Secretary of the Suleja branch of MOMAN, Mr Femi Akano told newsmen that “acts of sabotage on our part is untrue.
“Our members have complained of gridlocks, infrastructure and security checks as reasons for delays and we have cooperated with the government, so acts of sabotage on our part are untrue”.
Commandant-General Operations of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr Abdullahi Aminu, Assistant told newsmen that the NNPC and the NSCDC had been collaborating to halt diversion of products.