Date: 2017-12-05

Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to shut down all their filing stations in Kwara state if federal government did not caution private depot owners selling premium motor spirit (PMS) above regulated prices to their members.

The association lamented that only three trucks are been loaded for them in Ibadan depot ?while Massimi depot has also reduced the number of products sent to Ilorin.

The chairman of IPMAN in Kwara, Alhaji Okanlawon Olanrewaju said this yesterday during a press briefing where he emphasised that if proper measures are not taken to avert the impending petroleum products scarcity in the state, they may be force to close all their filling stations in the state.

"As I speak to you PMS is sold between N142 and N143 at private depot to our members and when we add N6 to it that is already more than the approved price by the government.

"Ibadan and Mosimi where we usually get our products have also reduce their supply to Kwara state and for more than three years now, the Ilorin depot have not gotten supply making is difficult for our members.

"We paid money for PMS since June this year and also for DPK since April this year to the NNPC which we have not gotten the supply till now and we discovered that NNPC is selling to private depots that charge us exorbitantly and the department of petroleum resources is seeing all that but they keep mum over it. It is when we increase our prices that DPR will start disturbing our members," Olanrewaju said.

He added that for the scarcity to be averted, there should be increase loading volume of PMS to Ilorin marketers from Mosimi, dedication of special loading arms to Ilorin at Ibadan PPMC depot as well as immediate pumping of petroleum product to Ilorin NNPC depot.

"If all these conditions are not met by Friday this week, all our members will close their filling state all over the state from Monday next week and nobody should blame us for the action," the chairman said.