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Petrol: NNPCL Slashes Price For Marketers To Ease Scarcity

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…Oil marketers promise compliance

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL has adopted new measures aimed at guaranteeing adequate fuel supply across the country, by fixing N148 per litre as the price for lifting petrol at depots.

It also agreed to supply outstanding stock to independent oil marketers, to end product shortage.

This came as the independent marketers said they had been lifting the product from private depots at about N200 per litre, which made it impossible for them to meet the Department of State Services, DSS, 48-hour directive last week.

They said that the situation also led to their inability to sell petrol at the N170 per litre like their major marketers’ counterparts and NNPCL.

READ ALSO: Fuel Scarcity Persists As DSS 48 Hours Ultimatum Elapses

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Vanguard, gathered yesterday, that a meeting was held between NNPCL, marketers and all the stakeholders, where the issues were resolved.

Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, who confirmed the development, said: “Our members have now been allowed to lift petrol at N148 per litre, meaning that we can now reduce our pump prices. We are committed to working with other parties to tackle the shortage across the country as quickly as possible.”

End shortage in one week — Reps

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, yesterday, called on NNPCL to end the lingering scarcity of petroleum products in the next week to ease the suffering of Nigerians.

The House also called on Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to seek the collaboration of the Nigerian Police Force and DSS to ensure that fuel was sold at the regulated price and in all retail outlets.

The resolutions followed a motion entitled: “Urgent Need for the Government to End the Current Fuel Scarcity,” moved by Saidu Abdullahi (Niger State) under matters of urgent public importance at plenary.

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Presenting the motion, Abdullahi noted that in the last few months, Nigerians have been subjected to untold hardships caused by petrol scarcity, affecting economic activities and making the already trying times in the country more difficult.

He said: “Intelligence reports on current fuel scarcity gathered by our securities agencies indicated that there is a deliberate plan by some oil marketers to derail the effort of the government in the distribution of fuel in the country by hoarding the petroleum products and thereby, creating artificial scarcity all over the country.

READ ALSO: 2023: Persistent Fuel Scarcity Enough Reason Not To Vote APC – Cleric

“While the fuel scarcity is hurting, some major marketers are currently selling fuel at government regulated price, but some independent marketers, who operate in the market have enough petroleum products and are selling at unregulated prices.

“Most of those fuel stations have resulted in selling fuel at over N300 per litre. It is observed with dismay that those who are gaining from this artificial fuel scarcity appear to be smiling home as a result of this ugly development and this has the potency to provoke innocent Nigerians against the government.”

However, IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Mr. Chinedu Ukadika who spoke to Vanguard, yesterday, urged the NNPCL to allocate 60 percent of petrol imported into the country to independent marketers at official rate to end the perennial scarcity in the country.

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IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Mr. Chinedu Ukadika who spoke to Vanguard, yesterday, said the wide networks of independent marketers make them the perfect outlets to ensure sustained distribution of petroleum products across the country.

While applauding the management of NNPCL for ensuring that the independent marketers had access to the product in the past few days, he noted that for supply to normalize, independent stations must be given priorities.

According to him, in the Port Harcourt zone, independent marketers were allocated 35 trucks in the past few days at official pump price of N145.60 which has led to the disappearance of queues in the filling stations.

“Here in Port Harcourt, there is no problem for independent marketers for now. We have received 35 trucks so far and we are still expecting vessels for independent marketers.

“Even though the Port Harcourt Refinery depot has been shut down, we are getting from the private depots that NNPCL is using to distribute the product. The private depots are owned by DAPMAN members. At times there are challenges because the depot owners want to load the major marketers first,” he stated.

Ukadike explained that while supply has improved it was still not enough to sustain free supply “because the independents still rely on buying from DAPMAN members at N207/210 per litre to sell at their stations.

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“I still canvass that because we have the facilities, because we have the population, because we are located in the nooks and crannies of the nation, independent marketers should be given at least 60 percent of the daily allocations from the PPMC”.

He pointed out that what has transpired in the past few weeks was not actually shortage of the product but price disparity among marketers.

“What happened is a ghost queue because it was not something that was sustainable. We should have been able to get enough products for independent marketers. Now we have 35 trucks but the big question will be when are we getting allocation again?

“We may have to wait for another two weeks but this allocation will last into next week. After then what will follow? Independent marketers will have to go back to private dealers to buy at high cost.

“Now, if you go to NNPC Retail stations you will see long queues but at the independent stations you will not find any queues because they are selling at above N200 per litre while NNPC Retail is selling at N179.50 per litre.

“What we have is price disparity and if the independents have the product at government approved price we will sell at N165 per litre, cheaper than what NNPC and the major marketers are selling,” he added.

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Marketers set up committee to track product delivery

Similarly, National President of IPMAN, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, said the scarcity in Lagos will disappear by the end of the week as its members have been given the product at the official price by NNPCL directly.

He said: “The resolution from our meeting, yesterday, was strictly on monitoring and tracking of product delivery across the country to avert diversion from marketers.”

Already compliance committees have been approved to see to this development.

“At the moment, scarcity in Abuja is off and by the end of the week, that of Lagos and other affected states would be cleared as backlogs of over 300 truck-loads of the product have been released.

READ ALSO: Fuel Scarcity: NNPCL Releases 1.9billion Litres PMS After DSS Ultimatum

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“We call on marketers to desist from hoarding as we have signed an agreement with the Federal Government to ensure availability of the product at various petrol stations as well as strict monitoring of compliance by marketers across the country.”

MOMAN pledges compliance

Similarly, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, yesterday, pledged its support towards ending the shortage.

In a statement, the association, said: “MOMAN continues to work with other key stakeholders to ensure that we ramp up supplies to our retail sites and return to normalcy as soon as possible. We envisage a rise in demand during the yuletide season and are prepared to work round the clock to keep our stations running.”
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8-year-old Survives As Bus Carrying 46 Pilgrims Crashes In South Africa

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A bus crash led to the death of 45 passengers in South Africa on Thursday.

The bus, which crashed through a barrier of a bridge, caught fire after it fell off a bridge approximately 300km north of Johannesburg in the Northeastern Limpopo province.

BBC reports that only an eight-year-old child survived the accident with multiple injuries.

READ ALSO: Nigeria Ranks 109 In World Hungry Nations – Peter Obi Laments

The passengers were said to be pilgrims travelling from Botswana’s capital Gaborone to an Easter service in the town of Moria.

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The vehicle lost control and went off a bridge on the Mmamatlakala mountain pass between Mokopane and Marken, around 300km (190 miles) north of Johannesburg, according to South African public broadcaster SABC.

Speaking with reporters after visiting the scene, Sindisiwe Chikunga, South Africa’s Minister of Transportation, said the government will carry out an investigation to determine the cause of the accident.

READ ALSO: FG To Review Oil Firms’ Plans On Gas Flaring

Chikunga said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.

“We continue to urge responsible driving at all times with heightened alertness as more people are on our roads this Easter weekend.”

In his Easter message to South Africans, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on citizens to “do our best to make this a safe Easter.”

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Man Stabs Four To Death In US

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Four people, including a teenage girl, were killed and at least five injured after a man went on a stabbing spree at multiple addresses in the US state of Illinois, police have said.

The stabbings took place on Wednesday afternoon, Rockford City Police said in a statement, adding that a 22-year-old suspect was taken into custody.

The statement did not say anything about a possible motive.

Rockford is located about 90 miles northwest of Chicago.

READ ALSO: Gender Balancing: Tellthatstory Empowers Women In African Storytelling

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Those killed included a 15-year-old girl, a 63-year-old woman, and two men aged 49 and 22, according to the police.

The police statement said that five people had been wounded, but US media later cited the police saying seven were wounded.

Details later

AFP

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[JUST IN] Okuama Killings: Army Declares Eight Persons Wanted [FULL LIST]

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The Nigerian Army has declared Eight persons wanted in connection with the killing of 17 soldiers in the Okuama community in Delta state.

The Nigerian Army disclosed this on its official X account on Thursday.

The persons declared wanted include seven men and one woman.

Full list:

They are Akevwru Daniel Omotegbono, Prof Ekpekpo Arthur, Andaowei Dennis Bakriki, Igoli Ebi (female), Akata Malawa David, Sinclear Oliki, Clement Ikolo Oghenerukevwe and Reuben Baru.

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Okuama killings: Background
The suspected mastermind of the bloodbath, a militant leader, and his gang members, who are currently on the run, seem to have their operational stamping ground at Igbomotoru, a riverside community in the Southern-Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

However, the Nigerian Army, which has spread its dragnet for the fleeing suspects, went as far as Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, to pick up three persons, last Tuesday, in connection with the killing of the soldiers.

READ ALSO: Delta Killings: Military Sets To Build Barracks On Okuama As Demolition Of Houses Continues

So far, the demanding search for the killers of the soldiers in the quiet Okuama has spread to the creeks, hideouts, and communities in Delta State, Bayelsa, and Rivers states, and is likely to extend to other states in the Niger-Delta, and outside the region if need be, according to sources.

According to VANGUARD, many believe the killing of the soldiers was beyond the land dispute between Okuama and Okoloba in the Bomadi local government area, as insiders point to divergences on oil bunkering.

Lt. Col Ali was reportedly bent on stopping oil thieves in his operational area and had made appreciable inroads. There was suspicion that his killing with other military personnel could be a setup.

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We know who did it – General Musa, CDS

The Chief of the Defense Staff, CDS, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, who had given his troops marching orders to track down the killers, alluded to this notion.

Musa said: “I know him, the C.O himself, Lt. Col. Ali. Because of recent, we emphasized that we want oil production in Nigeria to increase so that we will be able to have enough foreign exchange for things to go down. Because we all know the challenges we are facing.

READ ALSO: Okuoma Ambush: Troops Recover Decomposing Hearts Of Killed Soldiers

“And so, he insisted that all illegal activities within his general area must stop. He directed all the troops and they were stopping illegal bunkering, and then these are the people benefiting from it. And so when this issue came up, it became an opportunity for them to do away with him, which is exactly what happened.

“We know who did it, we are following up on him, and it is just a matter of time, we are sure we are going to get him. They took away our arms, we must get those arms back, and we must get these guys so that they would be prosecuted accordingly.”

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From our findings, the countryside people of Okuama are not sophisticated enough to carry out this kind of attack on military officers.

And from the CDS declaration that “we know who did it..,” he confirmed that the premeditated killing was connected to oil bunkering, so why did the troops go after helpless Okuama women and children, and even razed the community?

However, the Army, on Friday, admitted knowledge of the viral video by a militant leader who confessed to participating in killing the 16 soldiers.

It noted: “The video among other things helps to narrow investigation to persons of interest and their cohorts.

“Accordingly, the state governments and host communities of these personalities are required to assist investigation in flushing out these culprits.

“There can be no hiding place for perpetrators of such dastardly act against the nation. This is a clarion call to duty by members of those communities and the state governments”.

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