Oil Marketers have traced the lingering queues at filling stations to the instability in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as petrol in many parts of the country.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) noted that with the current situation of fuel circulation, it will be difficult to sell petrol at N195 per litre as approved by the government.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari had earlier said queues at filling stations would be over in one week, Investors King recalls.
The oil marketers expressed optimism on the projection of NNPCL as it had assured IPMAN members of 140 million litres of petrol to further boost supply.
The Secretary, IPMAN Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu hinted that despite the promise, members of the association are yet to get sufficient fuel to meet the needs of their customers.
He further said that some marketers had already bought PMS at high rates which will make it difficult for them to sell at the government approved rate of N195/litre.
“The NNPC boss is an authority and we are not going to dispute that, but we hope so, because it is our prayer that all these problems are resolved. I am not going to dispute his position, but as I speak with you, our members across the country are still not getting the product the way they should.
“And there are those who bought products at higher rates. Government is now telling them to sell at the government approved rate and that there will be enforcement, which, of course, is going to be difficult to implement. It is a challenge as far as we are concerned.
“However, I will say that I believe that this naira scarcity could also be a factor. The cash crunch is affecting both the oil marketer and the customers of our products. There is no cash, you can’t travel to perfect some transactions, even the internet services are not functioning as expected. You encounter difficulties when trying to make transfers,” Shuaibu said.
