?The zonal chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in charge of Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti and Kwara states, Alhaji Debo Ahmed, on Thursday decried the alleged lopsidedness in the allocations of petroleum products by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to members of the association in the country.

He said that such ugly development has led to the current fuel scarcity being experienced by the members of the public in the affected states.

Speaking at a news conference in Ilorin, Kwara, Ahmed queried: "How can you allocate fuel to members of IPMAN that has over 12,000 nationwide fuel stations with just ?10 per cent while major marketers with only 2,031 stations in the country have allocation of 75 per cent and NNPC mega stations with just 549 stations across the country have an allocation of 15 per cent.

"This is lopsidedness in the allocations has caused a lot of havoc to the members of the association that happens to have stations across the length and breadth of the country.

"The situation has also led many of our members to patronise private fuel depots so as to meet the ends meet adding that,"we cannot just close our fuel stations for business because we must pay our staffs, taxes and all other dues from the government".