Fuel queues resurfaces in Lagos, others; Ipman shifts blame of pump price increase to private depots

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Western Zone, has attributed the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit to the hike in private depot prices.

Chairman of the Zone, Dele Tajudeen, announced this in an interview with the newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos.

while condemning the increase, Tajudeen said that there had been an increase in the depot price of fuel from N148.17 per litre to N178 per litre since last week.

According to him, none of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) depots has products and the private depots took advantage of the situation to hike the price.

The IPMAN chairman said the marketers should not be blamed for the increase in pump price, adding that “selling at N170 per litre is not realistic”.

However, a top official of the Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN), who preferred to be anonymous, said the scarcity was as a result of a shortfall in product allocation from the NNPC

Meanwhile, fuel queues on Monday returned to most parts of Lagos State following the decision of some members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to shut down their operations.

Akin Akinrinade, Chairman, IPMAN, Lagos Satellite Depot, Ejigbo, who confirmed the development said the members took the decision because they could no longer operate at a loss.

He explain further that while the government had fixed N165 per litre as the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), the current realities in the market showed that the minimum the product should be retailed at the stations should be N180

The long queues were also noticed along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Ikorodu road, and Lagos Island.

Findings by BusinessDay showed motorists queued for hours at filling stations in different parts of the city, seeking to purchase fuel, with some spending as much as six hours or more.

Mike Osatuyi, National Operations Controller, IPMAN, said his association is following the development but there is nothing concrete yet.

He said: “We noticed it too and believe the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd must have also observed.

“We expect them to work on it in terms of increasing supply,” Osatuyi said. “let us watch and see what will happen in the next three-four days.”

In addition, the Controller said his members are already buying at a higher price but will observe till Wednesday before taking any action.

On Monday, the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, blamed the lingering scarcity on the delay in the arrival of product vessels.

He said this has led to a drop in the stock sufficiency level of the NNPC Limited but added that the vessels were just arriving.

“For us, the independent marketers, we are service oriented, and we normally buy our products from NNPC, private depots, and private tank farm owners and some of them are located in Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt knowing fully well that we import petroleum products in this country, and most of these products are vessel driven depots, and they collect products from ships.

“Recently, NNPC and the PPMC, I think there is a shortfall in the sufficiency they have in stock because some of the mother vessels they are expecting are just arriving there was a little delay and some of the logistics in handling charges in the depots, so these are the issues that have truncated the chain of supply.

“Because some of these mother vessels that were supposed to arrive Nigeria and be able to distribute and send to these private depots, there was a little delay in payments and receipts and NIMASA,” he said.

He noted that although the flood had subsided as some depots were out of stock.