Following further reduction in the pump price of fuel in Nigeria by the Federal Government, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) has said its members would not comply with the new N123.50k per litre price of petrol until they have exhausted their old stock, which was procured before the adjustment. The government had, through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), announced a further reduction of the pump price of petrol from N125 to N123.50k per litre.
The Executive Secretary of the agency, Abdulkadir Saidu, said in a statement that, “PPPRA, in line with the government approval for a monthly review of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) pump price, hereby announces Guiding PMS pump price of N123.50 per Litre. The guiding price, which becomes effective April 1, 2020, shall apply at all retail outlets nationwide for the month of April 2020.”
Saidu said PPPRA and other relevant regulatory agencies would continue to monitor compliance with extant regulations for a sustainable downstream petroleum sector. He said members of the public and all oil marketing companies should be guided accordingly. The PPPRA had earlier on March 18 reduced the pump price of petrol from N145.00 to N125.00 due to the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which is ravaging the entire world.
While addressing a press conference in Kano, IPMAN chairman in the state, Alhaji Bashir Ahmad Danmallam, said the association had already directed its members to sell their product at N125 per litre, insisting that “until the last drop of old stock is exhausted, no one will stock in debt to dispense at N123.50.”
He claimed that, “The last time the Federal Government reduced the pump price of the product from N145 per litre to N125 per litre, our members nationwide lost over N5.5 billion as a result of the sudden reduction. We called on government for compensation or support for our members who are already in a huge loss due to the sudden reduction in fuel pump price but nothing was given to us. “But to our surprise, the private depots owners were paid, none of our members was supported to reduce the loss we incurred. This time around, we will not sell our products until the old stocks are exhausted.”