The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has frowned at the shortage of petrol in Calabar, alleging a conspiracy of silence over the matter among key government regulators in the petroleum sector.
This was the position of the Comrade Robert Obi’s led EXCO of IPMAN, Calabar unit, during a stakeholders’ meeting with the new South-South regional Coordinator of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mrs. Comfort Ajayi, yesterday in Calabar.
The meeting, convened at the instance of Ajayi, was aimed at familiarizing her office with members of the body as well as to find a lasting solution to the protracted fuel scarcity in Cross River state, and its environs.
While calling on NMDPRA to wield her regulatory powers on defaulting deport operators, the association also condemned the lopsided distribution of products by NNPCL which frequently causes shortage and the consequential over pricing of petrol in Calabar metropolis.
The chairman said more was expected from NMDPRA to checkmate the diversion and indiscriminate pricing of products by private deport operators, who after lifting from NNPCL makes it problematic for marketers to have it.
He accused NMDPRA of not doing enough to address the current challenges, but rather decided to maintain a low profile until lately when the new regional head of the agency began to make some moves to assuage the plight of independent marketers.
Therefore, the association charged NMDPRA and other regulatory bodies to come out of their comfort zones and effectively regulate the petroleum sector in order to ensure the availability of products for marketers and the consumers.
He said: “NNPCL has a major role to play to address the challenges we are facing. Why give products to private tank farms when most of your outlets don’t have it?
“No sincerity on the part of government. No information had been given about this shortfall we had been having.
“As a regulatory agency of the government, come out of your comfort zone and regulate the system well, otherwise, we would make a statement. You can’t pretend not to know what is happening in the system.”
Meanwhile, the IPMAN chairman also at the forum disclosed that due to the unavailability of products the working environment was no longer conducive and favorable to his members in the state.
He appealed that whenever products were brought in some percentage should be allotted to the catchment area of Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.
This, he noted will help address the perennial scarcity of product in Calabar as well as enable members of the association to earn some income to renew their operating licenses regularly.
Obi, who also appealed for more time to enable members of the association to renew their licenses, expressed the readiness of IPMAN to work amicably with the new NMDPRA boss in the region.
In their respective contributions at the forum, both the chairman of UDDY King Petroleum, Mr. Uduma Ezera and the Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Calabar unit, Dr. Ugbe Justin supported the position of IPMAN’s chairman, adding that the unavailability of product was the major concern of Independent marketers in the state.
They decried the situation where after marketers were made to go obtain loan facilities from the banks and pay in advance for petrol, but would be made to wait endlessly for the needed supply.
According to Ezera, who lambasted the government for failure to regulate the sector effectively through her regulatory agencies, the present situation is not only demoralizing, but frustrating as well.
“The institution you are representing is not doing well. The major problem we are have is how to get this product and sell it. You pay for product, but you don’t have it”, he said.
Earlier, in her welcome address, the regional Coordinator of NMDPRA, Mrs. Comfort Ajayi, commended members of IPMAN for comporting themselves even in the face of the current challenges.
She said her doors were widely opened for collaboration with members of the association to address whatever gap noticed in the supply chain of petroleum products in the state.
Ajayi, however, reminded the IPMAN members of the need to always renew their operating licenses, adding that it was unprofessional to operate without the required approval.
While emphasizing the need for the renewal of operating license, she promised that concerted efforts will always be made to ensure the availability of products to independent marketers in the state, even at the approved rates.
This, according to her informed the earlier directives from NMDPRA to depot owners to always display the prices of products in order to guarantee the needed transparency in the system.
The NMDPRA boss charged IPMAN members to always feel free to avail her office the needed information to act upon, noting that without any clue it may be difficult for the agency to know what their challenges were at any given time.
According to her: “You know we cannot do it alone; we need your information and advice in order to succeed in this important task.
“However, I am not happy that only 15% of your facilities are licensed and there is the need for others to do renewable as soon as possible.
“You are into a very important business that requires approval.
“What you are saying is like asking a medical doctor not to renew his license because he does not have much patients. It is wrong. As a doctor, or a lawyer, for you to remain in the profession; you must renew your license as and when due irrespective of the level of patronage you enjoy. The same thing is applicable to you.”
