The South West Zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), on Wednesday said, Premium Motor Spirit (P.M.S) otherwise known petrol may soon sell for between N180 to N200 per litre in the zone.

The Zonal Chairman of the Association, Dele Tajudeen, who dropped the hint in an interview with journalists in Abeokuta, Ogun State, said the association may be forced to increase the price of petrol and AGO, popularly called diesel, following the non-supply of the products to its members.

Tajudeen lamented that, IPMAN members in the zone have not been able to access supplies of the products from any of the six government-owned depots for the past six months.

He added that, the scarcity had forced members to purchase from the private depot owners, who according to him have been exploiting the situation to put extra cost on his members.

Tajudeen explained that the Federal Government depots, located at Mosimi in Sagamu, Ogun State, as well as others in Ibadan, Lagos, Ore in Ondo State as well as the one in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital have all refused to load any of the Independent Marketers, the development which he said compelled his members to start making purchases from private depot owners since January this year.

The IPMAN zonal chairman further disclosed that these private depot owners have, however, decided to take advantage of the non-availability of the products at government’s depots to jack up the loading price to between N157 and N158, “excluding the transportation cost to our various destinations”.

“So, by the time we add the cost of transportation to the purchasing amount, we will be arriving at a sum of N165, which is the government approved pump dispensing price.

“As at today, the purchasing price of diesel has increased by 400 percent. Again, I want members of the general public to know that cost of transporting the product ranges between N6 to N8 and N10 depending on where the products are being transported to from the Lagos private depot where we make purchases,” he explained. (New Telegraph)

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