•IPMAN to flood stations with petrol 

From Dennis Mernyi, Abuja & Dennis Mernyi, Awka

MINISTER of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has moved to end the leadership tussle in the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN). His peace deal and intervention would get IPMAN to resolve the lingering fuel crisis.

At a meeting with the IPMAN leadership at the instance of Dr. Kachikwu, a 14-man member committee was raised to look into the leadership tussle and resolve it.

The committee is expected to interface with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) on behalf of the members of the association to ensure that fuel is made available to the nooks and crannies of this country.

Kachikwu has also mandated the committee to restore peace to IPMAN at the national, zonal and depot levels.

The committee is to ensure that marketers get their products and sell same at government approved price.

IPMAN, on its part, has assured Nigerians that the pains they are going through

now as a result of fuel scarcity, would end soon as it has promised to flood the petrol stations with products.

The association which has been locked up in leadership tussle over the past three years, gave the assurance after the meeting.

Kachikwu noted that as critical stakeholder in the downstream sector, IPMAN’s contribution is crucial in the drive to end the prevailing fuel supply situation.

The minister, who called on all members to see IPMAN as one indivisible entity, also charged them to work with government agencies such as the NNPC, DPR and other stakeholders to ensure that the prevailing fuel scarcity “becomes a thing of the past as quickly as possible.”

Speaking shortly after the successful deliberations, the National Secretary of IPMAN, Alhaji Danladi Pasali, expressed readiness to assist the Federal Government towards bringing a lasting solution to the fuel situation in the country within the next two weeks as stated by Dr. Kachikwu during a recent meeting with the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream. The minister had assured the lawmakers that the lingering fuel crisis will be over within the next two weeks.

Aligning IPMAN with this objective, Pasali stated thus: “In the spirit of reconciliation and patriotism, we have resolved to forget our differences and work together towards providing products to our various stations across the country in order to ease the hardship on Nigerians.

He said IPMAN, which controls a massive chunk of the market share in the nation’s downstream sector, will mandate its stations to operate a 24-hour service to ease the hardship on Nigerians.

Related News

Also speaking, at the meeting, Mr. Augustine Erhabor, another top IPMAN executive commended the minister for his efforts towards bringing lasting peace within the association, a development he described as “a new dawn in IPMAN.”

He informed that IPMAN will set up teams to monitor products distribution and deliveries at all their outlets nationwide even as he assured  that all their members will get their products at official ex-depot price so that they can sell at government approved price.

According to him, IPMAN will liaise with the NNPC management to facilitate the quick loading of about 7, 000 outstanding products tickets for onward dispensing into the hinterland across the country.

He urged the public to stop hoarding and panic-buying, assuring that in no distant future, the fuel queues will vanish.

“All of us in IPMAN are united and I want to assure Nigerians that this unity will help us see the end of this prevailing situation’’, Erhabor said.

Bishop exonerates minister 

Meanwhile, the Anglican Bishop of Niger West in Anambra State, Rt. Rev. Johnson Ekwe, yesterday described as misdirected the attack on Dr. Kachikwu over the fuel crisis.

The cleric, who spoke while delivering a sermon at the dedication service of Immanuel Anglican Church, Umueri in Anambra East Local Government Area, said the attack on Kachikwu amounted to playing the ostrich by leaving President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the substantive Minister of Petroleum, and attack his subordinate.

Bishop Ekwe, who saw no reasons for Nigerians to be subjected to hardship in a country richly blessed by God, insisted that Buhari as the main minister should be held wholly responsible for any lapse in the petroleum sector.

Emphasising the need for peace and corporate existence of all Nigerians, the bishop urged the Federal Government to call the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai to order over what the cleric called obnoxious laws of the governor against Christians.

Alleging that some churches had been marked for demolition among other adverse actions against Christians by the Kaduna State Government, the bishop said the governor must be cautioned.

He reminded the governor that Nigeria is a secular state where freedom of religion of every citizen is guaranteed while condemning the activities of Fulani herdsmen who are killing innocent Nigerians with impunity.

Describing as worrisome what happened recently in Awgu, Enugu State where herdsmen raped two women and killed two persons and ironically when the people protested, soldiers were brought in, arresting 76 indigenous farmers of the area and allowed the herdsmen to go scot-free.

Lamenting the incident, the bishop said: “One wonders who gave them such sophisticated weapons as AK47. How can these herdsmen come here, used their cattle to destroy people’s crops and when the people complained, they brought out AK47 to shoot and kill them in their own homes. We cannot continue to keep quiet, this must stop