Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The Southwest Zonal chairman of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Dele Tajudeen, has lauded the Federal Government for approving the downward review of petroleum pump price from N145 to N125, declaring “the price reduction will ease the pains of the masses”.
Tajudeen stated this in an interview with journalists on Friday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
He said the downward review of PMS pump price had been expected in the face of economic hardship being faced by Nigerians.
“This is a commendable step by the FG. Nigerians had struggled to cope with the high price of PMS at N145 per litre; hardly would you see people buying more than 5 or 7 litres to fuel their generators. But now, they will buy more and there will be more sales for us too, since the profit margin remains the same for the marketers”, IPMAN Zonal chairman stated.
Tajudeen, however, appealed to the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to give credit notes to petroleum marketers who loaded products two days before the announcement of the new petroleum price against subsequent loading, noting “such marketers stand the chance of incurring huge debt or loss”.
According to him, not all tankers can reach their destinations same day of loading petroleum products at depots, adding that those who are able to offload same day at their respective filling stations cannot sell 33,000 or 45,000 litres PMS daily.
“Some trucks cannot reach their destinations daily, so, marketers who loaded on Monday and Tuesday will incur a loss of N660,000 or N900,000 on trucks loaded with 33,000 and 45,000litres of petrol respectively.
“The management of the NNPC should always have it at the back of its mind; the negative effects of this sudden change in the pump price of PMS on marketers, hence, we should be given an adequate notice before this kind of sudden directive, which impacts on our business,” Tajudeen stated.