By John Ikani
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has explained that the recent increase in the pump price of petrol from N500 to over N617 was necessary for their businesses to survive.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, IPMAN President Chinedu Okoronkwo expressed concerns about the removal of subsidy on petrol, stating that many IPMAN members had been forced out of business because they couldn’t afford to purchase fuel from depots and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Okoronkwo emphasized that petrol marketers needed to sell their existing stock at the new price in order to sustain their operations.
“You need to be in business. If you go back, you will go and buy at a new price. Assuming you are selling N520, then there is a sudden change from where you are getting it, you have to still be in business,” Okoronkwo explained.
However, a former President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Peter Esele, criticized the IPMAN president’s remarks, suggesting that petrol marketers are taking advantage of the situation to make additional profits.
Esele argued that it is morally right for marketers to sell their old stocks at the previous price.
It is worth noting that the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol was announced by President Bola Tinubu in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023.
The decision led to an initial rise in the pump price from N184 to N500, and as of Tuesday, July 18, 2023, the price further escalated to over N617, causing frustration and drawing criticism from financially strained citizens.
