The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says its members can’t load petrol from the Dangote Refinery in Lagos despite having paid ?40bn to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

IPMAN President Abubakar Garima stated this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday.

Garima expressed surprise that the owner of the $20bn refinery Aliko Dangote said marketers were boycotting his refinery to buy imported petrol.

We have over 40 billion naira in outstanding debt with the NNPCL. I was surprised when Dangote said he has over 500 million liters of PMS. We are ready to buy the product from Dangote if he is ready to sell it to us directly.

The IPMAN boss said his members are not importing petrol, as claimed by Africa’s richest man. He said rather than get Dangote petrol through the NNPCL, the private refinery should register independent petrol marketers directly for smooth loading of the product.

“If he (Dangote) can be able to sell the product to us directly, we can buy the product, because we have to pay before we pick. Presently, we have ?40bn under the NNPCL custody but we cannot source the product.

“Just of recent, there are some of my marketers that NNPCL sent to load in Dangote refinery and those marketers stayed with their trucks for four days, and they cannot load,” he said.

On Tuesday, billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote held a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja and told reporters that he has over 500 million litres in tanks at his mammoth refinery but marketers are not patronising his facility.

However, Garima said IPMAN, with over 20,000 members in Nigeria, has ?40bn upfront payment with the NNPCL and still can’t load the premium product from the private refinery.

Garima said Nigerians would see a reduction in the pump price of petrol if Dangote Refinery let independent marketers lift the product directly like the NNPCL.

‘Check Your Price’

The IPMAN president also urged Dangote to check the price of his commodity if marketers importing petrol are boycotting his product.

“Since he (Dangote) says marketers are not buying his product, he should check his price properly. Is it higher than what they are obtaining outside or is it the same rate? Then if marketers buy this product through him, how long will it take for it to reach their depots? That one too is a factor,” Garima stated.

The IPMAN president said there was nothing wrong if marketers outside his organisation decided to sell imported products but Dangote “should go and review and check how much are they selling outside.”

Nigerians are grappling with the weight of unprecedented food inflation, and energy prices which have quadrupled in the last year under the Tinubu administration. Specifically, the price per litre of petrol jumped from less than ?200 to over ?1,000.

Many people have blamed the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex rates for the high living costs that have assailed the middle class, many of whom have abandoned their cars for public transportation. (Channels TV: Text, Excluding Headline)