Headline

Petrol: NNPCL Slashes Price For Marketers To Ease Scarcity

Published

3 years ago

December 14, 2022

Editor

…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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

“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.

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.

“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.”
VANGUARD

Headline

FULL LIST: Nigeria Emerges As Africa’s Third Most Formidable Military Force

Published

12 hours ago

June 23, 2025

Editor

Nigeria has secured the third position among African nations with the most formidable military forces in the 2025 Global Firepower Military Strength Index, according to Global Firepower’s annual report cited by The PUNCH on Monday.

The index evaluates 145 countries based on over 60 metrics, including troop numbers, equipment capabilities, financial resources, logistical efficiency, and geographical advantages to assess military strength.

In the 2025 rankings, Egypt maintains its lead as Africa’s top military power, followed by Algeria in second place and South Africa in fourth. Nigeria’s rise to third underscores its growing military capabilities, driven by investments in personnel, equipment, and counter-terrorism efforts.

Here is a list of African countries ranked in the 2025 Global Firepower Index.

1. Egypt (19)

2. Algeria (26)

3. Nigeria (31)

4. South Africa (40)

5. Ethiopia (52)

6. Angola (56)

7. Morocco (59)

8. Democratic Republic of the Congo (66)

9. Sudan (73)

10. Libya (76)

11. Kenya (83)

12. Chad (84)

13. Mozambique (89)

14. Tunisia (90)

15. Tanzania (92)

16. Cameroon (93)

17. Ivory Coast (102)

18. Mali (104)

19. Zambia (109)

20. Ghana (110)

21. Zimbabwe (111)

22. South Sudan (113)

23. Uganda (114)

24. Namibia (116)

25. Niger (119)

26. Eritrea (120)

27. Republic of the Congo (121)

28. Botswana (122)

29. Mauritania (123)

30. Senegal (125)

31. Burkina Faso (129)

32. Madagascar (130)

33. Gabon (133)

34. Liberia (138)

35. Sierra Leone (140)

36. Somalia (142)

37. Central African Republic (143)

38. Benin (144)

Headline

Middle East Crisis Dominates EU Foreign Ministers’ Brussels Meeting

Published

12 hours ago

June 23, 2025

Editor

The foreign ministers of EU member states on Monday were set to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East at their June meeting in Brussels.

The talks come amid growing international alarm after the United States joined Israel in launching strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

A key question for the ministers will be whether Europe can help steer the crisis back towards diplomacy.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Sunday urged all sides “to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation,” in a statement posted on X.

Headline

US Says Strikes ‘Devastated’ Iran’s Nuclear Program

Published

1 day ago

June 22, 2025

Editor

Unprecedented US strikes have wrecked Iran’s nuclear program, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday as Washington sought to assess what remained of the three targeted sites.

The surprise strikes threaten to deepen conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran, with Tehran vowing to retaliate against US involvement.

But the United States said President Donald Trump wanted peace and urged Iran to end the conflict after strikes on a key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.

“We devastated the Iranian nuclear program,” Hegseth told a Pentagon press briefing, adding that the operation “did not target Iranian troops or the Iranian people.”

Trump “seeks peace, and Iran should take that path”, Hegseth said. “This mission was not, and has not been, about regime change.”

Standing beside Hegseth, top US general Dan Caine said that “it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there.”

“Initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” he told reporters.

– Protests in Tehran –

People gathered in the center of Tehran to protest against US and Israeli attacks, waving flags and chanting slogans, state TV showed.

Trump claimed total success for the operation in an address to the nation hours after the attack, and Vice President JD Vance followed up on Sunday morning.

“We know that we set the Iranian nuclear program back substantially last night, whether it’s years or beyond,” he told ABC.

“We’re not at war with Iran — we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” he added. “The president took decisive action to destroy that program last night.”

In Tehran, AFP journalists said the roar of aircraft flying over the city was heard repeatedly for the first time since Israel’s initial attacks.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increase in radiation levels at the nuclear sites and Tehran said Sunday there were no signs of contamination.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Istanbul the United States and Israel had “crossed a very big red line,” asserting Iran would continue to defend itself “by all means necessary.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US strikes, saying Trump’s decision to “target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history.”

The Israeli military was also checking the results of the US raid on the deeply buried nuclear facility in Fordo, with a spokesman saying it was “too soon” to know if Iran had removed enriched uranium from the site.

The main US strike group was seven B-2 Spirit bombers flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuelings, Caine said.

– Global concern –

In response to the US attack, Iran’s armed forces said they targeted multiple sites in Israel including Ben Gurion airport, the country’s main international gateway near Tel Aviv.

Israeli rescuers said at least 23 people were wounded.

In Jerusalem, Claudio Hazan, a 62-year-old software engineer, said he hoped the US intervention would hasten an end to the Iran-Israel war.

“Israel by itself would not stop… and it would take longer,” he said.

Israel said it had launched fresh strikes on western Iran and in Qom, south of Tehran. Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported four Revolutionary Guard members were killed in strikes on a military base in the city’s north.

The Israeli military said it had “struck missile launchers ready to launch toward Israeli territory, soldiers in the Iranian Armed Forces, and swiftly neutralized the launchers that launched missiles toward Israeli territory.”

Iran’s Shargh newspaper reported that a “massive explosion was heard” Sunday in Bushehr province, home to Iran’s only nuclear power plant.

Iranian news agencies also reported strikes in Yazd province.

The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, which had been mediating Iran-US nuclear talks, criticized the US move and urged de-escalation.

The European Union called on all sides “to step back,” while stressing Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

The Iranian foreign minister said he would travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Following his address, Trump warned Iran against retaliation. Iran and its proxies have previously attacked US military bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

Iran’s Huthi allies in Yemen on Sunday repeated their threat to resume attacks in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, saying they were ready to target US ships and warships.

The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck the country on June 13, repeating his insistence it could never have nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb. On Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s right to pursue a civilian nuclear program “cannot be taken away… by threats or war.”