IPMAN Says Petrol Scarcity May Continue Till Next Two Weeks
The ongoing petrol scarcity nationwide may lingers on for the next two weeks, according to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
The IPMAN’s spokesman, Chinedu Ukadike who gave this indication on Sunday, said there was an acute shortage of the product in the system.
Ukadike said NNPC is expected to restore the supply of petrol by next week, while it would take another week for normal restoration of supply.
IPMAN spokesman blamed the situation largely on the bottleneck in the importation of the product, as well as, the slow pace of renewal of import licenses of marketers, by the Nigerian Upstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
According to him, only one thousand and fifty out of 15,000 marketers who applied for the license renewal had been successful as at the April 55 deadline given by the authority to do so.
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On challenges faced by marketers in renewing their licences, he said: NNPC has said the marketers who have not been able to renew their licences will not be allowed to remain on their portal which has been shut for some time now. Because of this, we have not been able to request new products.
At this nascent period of deregulation, you will discover that this leads to scarcity, even when the product arrives. As it is now, even by their data, out of 15,000 marketers that are on the portal with licences, only 1,050 renewed their licences.
The requirement for renewal by NMDPRA is so much. Marketers are facing a hostile environment. NNPC placed a deadline of April 15, 2024, for marketers to renew their licences.
We are, therefore, appealing to NNPC to extend this deadline and also to NMDPRA to hasten the release of licences of marketers who have completed their processes, and also reduce bottlenecks around licence renewals.
However, reacting to the crisis yesterday, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, expressed optimism that the long queues will clear in the coming days, adding that NNPC Ltd has adequate stock.
He stated: The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, wishes to clarify that the tightness in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit currently being experienced in some areas across the country is a result of logistics issues and they have been resolved.
It also wishes to reiterate that prices of petroleum products are not changing. It urges Nigerians to avoid panic buying as there are sufficient products in the country.
