Fakoyejo OlalekanThe Federal Government has been asked to dispense Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, from the products trapped in the seven depots shut down by authorities at the weekend.
Prime Business Africa gathered that the depots had been shut down by the government for selling petrol to retail stations at prices the government deemed outrageous.
The Secretary to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abuja-Suleja branch, Mohammed Shuaibu, said the product in the depots should be evacuated and sold at an appropriate price to cushion the scarcity of fuel across various states.
IPMAN suggested the government sell the fuel in the seven depots at N148/litre, rather than lock up the product when the nation is struggling to meet demands due to a shortage of PMS.
Shuaibu said, “It is not just by shutting down the depots. If you shut down the depots when there are products in them, and you didn’t evacuate the products at the regulated price to the public, then you may end up causing more PMS supply problems.
“If you are a regulator, go in there and enforce, let them open the gates, bring in tankers to evacuate the products to the public so that there will be surplus fuel that will help in driving down the price.
“But by the time you shut down the depots and the products remain in their tanks, we won’t get the products, and who suffers when two elephants fight? The masses will suffer and we are suffering now. These are the consequences,” Punch quoted him.
Shuaibu suggested that the federal agency, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), should monitor the sales to enable compliance.
“So the NMDPRA should open up the depots and allow them to dispense the products at the regulated price. It must also make sure it monitors it to the letter. But by the time you shut down and tomorrow open, and these are businessmen, are you helping the situation or causing more harm?
“These people have products and you are shutting them down, why not regulate it if you want to enforce it? And if anyone is found wanting, punish the person, not by shutting down.”
Although NMDPRA stated that the depots on lockdown will not affect the availability of fuel.
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