The Kebbi State Chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has distanced its members from the hike in petroleum products being witnessed by consumers across the country.
The State Secretary, Babangida Mai Ahu, told journalists in Birnin Kebbi that what Nigerians were witnessing at filling stations were the forces of production cost, transportation and final sales to consumers, which came at an unavoidable cost.
He explained that marketers were trapped in constant financial challenges, which included spending longer periods loading and transporting products before discharging them at filling stations.
“In the past, the government, through the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), had been taking care of transportation costs and we coped with managing damages and losses we incurred in the course of moving tankers on bad roads.
“The PEF Board has been dissolved with the removal of subsidy. One can have three to ten tankers in the queue in Lagos for several weeks without getting products. These are additional costs to us because you have to take care of your workers. Then you buy diesel for the tankers to move,” Mai Ahu said.
The secretary stated that the dissolution of the PEF Board had contributed to the hike, noting that the recent drop in price at government-controlled filling stations was realisable because they had managed the cost of transportation. However, the gesture would not solve the problem at hand.
In spite of the challenges, he said the association would continue to live up to its responsibilities of ensuring the availability of products for the socio-economic development of the state and the nation at large as a responsible body.
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