Victor Ezeja
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said its members are yet unable to lift petroleum products directly from Dangote Refinery, affecting access and distribution across the country.
IPMAN President, Abubakar Maigandi, who made this known in an interview on Channels Television Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, said the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is still the sole off-taker of refined petrol from Dangote Refinery.
The IPMAN president was reacting to claims by President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, that the refinery has over 500 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in stock but marketers are not coming to lift the product.
Dangote on Tuesday, after a meeting with President Tinubu at Aso Rock, stated that his refinery is ready to supply.
He assured that the 650,000 barrels per day facility has the capacity to meet local consumption needs.
However, the IPMAN president expressed surprise at Dangote’s claim. He said his members are still buying PMS through NNPCL, adding that they faced difficulties in accessing the product from the Dangote Refinery.
According to him, independent marketers have outstanding N40 billion paid through NNPCL for petrol supply.
He said marketers are ever ready to lift products directly from Dangote Refinery if given access.
“We independent marketers are still waiting for NNPC to load our product. Presently as I am speaking, we have over N40 billion outstanding with the NNPC to load products and marketers are always looking for ways they can get these products direct. So, I am very surprised when I heard Dangote say his refinery has over 500 million litres of PMS,” Maigandi stated.
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“If he (Dangote) can sell this product to us directly, we Independent petroleum marketers are ready to buy the products because we have to pay before we pick. Just like what I have said, we have over N40 billion under NNPC custody , we cannot source these products directly.”
He revealed that some independent petroleum marketers sent by NNPCL recently to go and load products at Dangote Refinery spent four days with their trucks and were not able to load.
Maigandi said if Dangote is having 500 million litres of PMS in stock as he claimed, there should be no reason marketers couldn’t load after four days of waiting at the refinery.
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On why independent marketers are yet unable to load directly, Maigandi said the Dangote Refinery management said they must come as a group and they have applied through their company, IPMAN Green Energy, as required but is yet to be registered to start lifting products directly.
He said if Dangote Refinery continues to delay in registering their company to be able to start buying directly, IPMAN members may be forced to source for alternative means of importing PMS to serve their customers.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
