By PETER UZOHO

Marketers of petroleum products under the aegis of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have appealed to the federal government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to consider their plight while enforcing the newly approved N125 per litre petrol pump price nationwide.

The marketers specifically pleaded with the government and the NNPC to give them some grace period to enable them sell off the stock they had just bought and loaded or give them credit notes for the said stock.

They said if they were forced to sell at the new N125 per litre pump price without any cushion or consideration, they would be running into losses of about one billion naira.

Stating their concerns yesterday during an interaction with journalists in Lagos, the South-west Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Mr. Dele Tajudeen, said that selling at the new fuel price would lead to huge losses to them.

“This now translate to a huge loss to our members because for a truck of 33,000 litres, the implication is that we are losing N660,000. If it is a 45,000 litres, we are losing N900,000 on a truck. I am talking of those that loaded yesterday and day before yesterday, (Wednesday and Tuesday). I am not talking of even the ones in underground tanks.

“And we have members that have multiple stations across South-west. The product they have now, the implication is that they are going to sell N20 below what they purchased and for all of us it translates to a loss of more than a billion naira across board.

“So our appeal to NNPC and federal government is that people who loaded yesterday and day before yesterday should be considered by giving them a credit note, because at this point in time we needed to be encouraged,” Tajudeen said.

He said their members received the news of the price reduction with mixed feelings, saying while they felt happy about the downward adjustment, they also felt sad because of the losses they were going to incur if no consideration was given to them.

The IPMAN chairman, who expressed some worry over lack of communication between them and the NNPC, especially during the price reduction process, said they were taken aback.

He pleaded that the national oil company should always carry them along as strategic stakeholders, adding that “in the nearest future we want to appeal to NNPC to always communicate to us.

“If we were given like one week or four or five days. everybody would have reduced their stock to at least a very minimal level. So today is a mixed feeling. While we are happy that the petrol price is reduced, we are also counting a whole lot of losses to our members”.

According to him, people that loaded either from NNPC depot or private depot should be put into consideration.

While noting that the relief they were asking for was possible and achievable, he said the federal government and the NNPC should put human face into the situation.

He argued that as the federal government tries to alleviate people’s problem at this time of global economic distress, IPMAN members should not be left out of such opportunities.

On whether it was because of the concerns he raised that made their members not to have adjusted their fuel pump to the new price, Tajudeen said: “We don’t encourage people to disobey constituted authority. But these are the reasons why some people have not adjusted to the new pump price.” (THISDAY)

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