Uche Usim, Abuja
In what could be termed a soothing development, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has directed its members nationwide to crash the pump price of petrol from N145 to N140/litre with effect from Wednesday, February 20 and Saturday, February 22, being the eve of the presidential and National Assembly elections.
The move serves a twin effect of pooling votes for President Muhammadu Buhari and ameliorating the suffering of Nigerians due to the postponed elections.
The directive for the petrol-price slash was announced in a statement by the National President of the Association, Chinedu Okoronkwo.
He said the decision followed the Saturday’s last-minute postponement of presidential and National Assembly elections by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
According to him, Nigerians traveled to different places across the country to cast their votes but were jolted by the postponement.
He said: “We urged all our members across Nigeria to immediately reduce the price of petroleum pump price from N145 to N140.
“This is because of the political situation in the country, following INEC’s sudden postponement of presidential and National Assembly elections after Nigerians were fully prepared.
“We are all aware how Nigerians traveled to different destinations across the country in order to exercise their civic duty, but unfortunately, they heard the sad news of the postponement of the polls.
“We consider this situation to reduce the pump price in order to ease their suffering, and to also motivate them to travel again to exercise their franchise on February 23.”
The IPMAN President, therefore, urged his members nationwide to comply immediately and ensure the success of the directive.
Okworonkwo also said IPMAN’s decision to reduce the petroleum pump price followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s concern over the election postponement.
“We decided to express our concern over the postponement, as President Buhari expressed concern over the development.
“As Buhari apologised to Nigerians to show restraint and return to polling units on February 23, IPMAN, therefore, called on the citizens to exercise patience and come out en masse to cast their votes on the rescheduled date,” he added.