The Lagos chapter of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, IPMAN, has protested the harassment and sealing off of its members’ filling stations over alleged hoarding and inflation of fuel prices in the country.
IPMAN said in a statement signed by chairman of the Satellite Depot, Ejigbo, Lagos, Alhaji Alanamu Ayo Balogun, that the action of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) was uncalled for, irrational and unjustified.
Alhaji Balogun chided the DPR for harassing and accusing the IPMAN’s fuel stations and directing its action against innocent marketers when it knew that the depot owners were the culprits allegedly hoarding and inflation fuel prices. He said the depot owners should be blamed for selling fuel to IPMAN at the rate of N117 per litre. He asked: “If the filling stations get the fuel at N117 per litre, is it possible to sell to the public at N87 per litre. They have to add their running costs before selling to the public?”
Balogun said the DPR should confront the depot owners instead of giving his members a bad name. While stressing that IPMAN controls 85 percent of all the filling stations in the country, he questioned the rationale behind the fuel subsidy, noting that at all times, IPMAN bought fuel above the government controlled price from depot owners. “Depot owners will tell the IPMAN members to pay N77.66 kobo into one account which is the controlled price and pay the remaining money into another account. At other occasions, depot owners will sell all their products to one dealer at a higher price, and this dealer will sell to IPMAN at his own price, which negates the government controlled price of N87 per liter.”