IPMAN Urges FG to Revive NNPC Depots to Ease Fuel Distribution

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has advised the Federal Government to revive operations at NNPC depots across the country to ease petrol distribution.
Alhaji Ahmed Debo, the Chairman of South-West Zone of IPMAN, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the weekend in Lagos.
Debo said that government had neglected the depots for too long, adding that only nine out of 35 depots across the country were currently working.
According to him, the current measure put in place by government for marketers in the Western Zone to load petrol in Lagos could not be a permanent solution.
“Government should embark on massive repairs of depots and products pipelines in the country to save marketers from coming to Lagos to load products.
” Most marketers, who come to Lagos to load products, are facing so many challenges such as bad roads, time consuming and negative impacts on turnaround of liquidity of marketers’ investments.’’
Debo also appealed to government to deregulate the downstream sector of the oil and gas sector to ease frequent challenges of fuel scarcity.
He said that revival of the country’s refineries would also go a long way in addressing the perennial fuel scarcity in the country.
“Government should stop playing politics with the issues of downstream sector.
“Lifting of petrol at Apapa private depots is not the lasting solution, there is the need to look inward’’.
The deadline given by Mr Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, for fuel queues to disappear across the country lapsed last Thursday.
But, by last Friday, more filling stations have started dispensing fuel, an indication that supply has improved on what obtained in the last three weeks.
In Abule Egba, Agege, Maryland, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Apapa, Ojota, Oregun and Mushin, majority of the filling stations were dispensing, but had long queues of vehicles.
The independent marketers were selling a litre of petrol for between N180 and N200 with desperate motorists queuing for long hours to get petrol.
On Ikorodu Road, there was a logjam on the service lane as Total; MRS and NIPCO filling stations had long queues of vehicles.