By IBUKUN EMIOLA

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Western Zone, says it will shut down operations from Monday, Sept. 8, to protest what it described as attempts to monopolise the downstream sector.

The resolution was reached on Saturday at a zonal council meeting which brought together council members, officers, depot chairmen and secretaries across the five depots in the South West.

The Chairman of the zone, Chief Oyewole Akanni, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan after the meeting.

He said that the strike was in solidarity with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over job security concerns for Petroleum Tanker Drivers.

Akanni said the planned entry of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company into petrol distribution, alongside MRS Energy Ltd, posed a serious threat to the survival of IPMAN members? businesses.

According to him, IPMAN members, who operate over 4,000 trucks for petroleum product lifting, would be severely affected, as many truck drivers and motor boys risk losing their jobs.

He noted that thousands of members? investments could be crippled as well.

?More importantly, such a move also negates the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which prohibits a company refining crude oil from directly engaging in product distribution.

?This is a flagrant disobedience to the law guiding operations in the downstream sector.

?This is a collective decision by all zonal council members, officers, depot chairmen and secretaries. No member must open their stations for operations from Monday,? he said.

Akanni called on the Federal Government to intervene and uphold the laws governing the Petroleum Industry Act, stressing that the association would resist any attempt to allow monopoly in the sector.

NAN recalls that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery had announced plans to commence nationwide distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (diesel).

The company had set this in motion supported by 4,000 compressed natural gas-powered trucks acquired for its logistics programme. (NAN)

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