LAGOS NOVEMBER 24TH (URHOBOTODAY)-The price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol soared by about 50 per cent at retail outlets following the hike in price of the product at the depots, Elombah.com has learnt.
The development comes as a political group, Buhari-Osibajo Support Group calls on Président Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sack the Managing Director of Petroleum Product Marketing Company due to her incompetence and act of sabotage.
A daily industry price survey conducted by marketers at depots in Apapa, Lagos, revealed that yesterday’s average price per litre of PMS was N112 as against the normal price of N77.66 per litre. The MRS depot sold at N110 per litre, Honeywell sold at N111, while Folawiyo and Capital Oil and Gas sold at N115 per litre respectively, reflecting an increase of about 50 per cent.
Fuel tanker drivers were seen milling around the gates of the depots looking for people that would facilitate easy access to Depot managers to enable them buy the product, even at such high prices because some of them have spent weeks waiting for their trucks to be loaded with product.
One of the marketers, who asked not to be identified, told The Nation that currently, none of them (marketers) has fuel because, as he put it, “there is no money to import,” saying that because demand far outstrips supply now, there are grave sharp practices at the depots. He noted that the depots of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) still sell at the regulated price of N77.66 per litre, but immediately the loaded truck comes out of the gate, the product is sold to the waiting tanker drivers and marketers who are willing to pay higher margins.
The marketer was of the view that price of petrol may rise to as high as N200 per litre at filling stations in Lagos before the week runs off, stating that it is only the NNPC that currently imports and it lacks the capacity to distribute and meet the 50 per cent daily national consumption it claims to possess. He said the turnaround time of the vessels that bring supply NNPC fuel, is very slow. Unlike marketers that use three days to discharge their vessels, each of the NNPC’s vessels takes over one week to discharge, putting pressure on demand. The timeframe between the discharge of one vessel and another is long, he said.
The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, said the marketers are being economical with the truth because of the subsidy money owed them. There is enough to go round if the marketers sincerely distribute it, adding that the Corporation recently decided to be publishing its daily fuel supply from the depots, indicating the quantities given to marketers and the trucks that took the products, to confirm transparency and commitment of the government to providing fuel for the populace, alleging that some marketers want to discredit the government by diverting and hoarding the fuel given to them.
He said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu had a meeting on Wednesday last week with the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) and the Jetty and Petroleum Tank Farm Owners of Nigeria (JEPTFON), and NIPCO, to find ways to bringing the fuel scarcity to an end, and they pledged their support. He stated that the Minister assured them that the subsidy debt would soon be paid because President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a letter to members of the National Assembly regarding the matter.
Meanwhile a political group, Buhari-Osibajo Support Group has called on Président Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sack the Managing Director of Petroleum Product Marketing Company due to her incompetence and act of sabotage.
The group also called on the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachukwu to immediately set the machinery for the removal of the Managing Director before she wreck further havoc in the PPMC.
In a statement signed by its National Président , Mallam Ibrahim Salisu and National Secretary , Alhaji Ogunsola Adeosun, and made available to Elombah.com, the group accused the PPMC chief executive of sabotaging the Buhari Presidency and Kachikwu ongoing reform in the.oil sector.
” Why is the MD embarrassing our Président by creating fuel scarcity through mismanagement of the PPMC? Why is MD deliberately disorganising the PPMC leading to lack of xontigency plan to address fuel supply in the country.
” Since she was appointed into that delicate office, she has degraded the PPMC , transferred many northern officials out of critical positions, played ethnic card by replacing northerners with southerners and placed incompetent staff in critical positions.
” The consequence is what we are now facing, embarrassing protracted fuel scarcity. Even in the face of that , she did not relent in her push to destroy PPMC from within.This should not be allowed to continue. She must be sacked and a competent person appointed “, the group canvassed.
While commending the Minister of State for his reform efforts so far,the group advised the minister not to allow the PPMC boss to soil his credentials as a great reformer , adding” we called on Comrade Kachikwu to initiate a removal process now.
“We loyalists of the new administration will not allow any incompetent MD to destroy the good image of our president. The minister should as a matter of urgency recommend a replacement.
” If the minister fails to act,it will send wrong signals to those who see him as a change agent in the oil sector. Now is the time to.shake up the PPMC “, the group canvassed.
In the meantime the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has commenced 24 hours dispensing of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to end the fuel scarcity across the nation.
President of IPMAN, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, in statement yesterday, said this was part of its effort to end the hardship of motorists in the country.
He said after meeting with the officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other security operatives last week in Abuja, the body agreed to commence dispensing across major cities non stop based on certain conditions.
“The scarcity would soon end. NNPC management assured us of sufficient supplies, and based on the loading template, we have started seeing the changes.”
He said the directives affect members that operate within the major cities in the country, urging that any marketer that has security issues while dispensing, should contact the security operatives, or the IPMAN headquarters in Abuja, or its zonal offices.
Okworonkwo said some of the major challenges in the past, included failure to adequately supply its members with enough fuel, while some depot owners deliberately decided to deny his members products even though they have paid for it for a very long time.