The union gave this directive because it claimed it was no longer possible to sell at the government’s cap of N165 per litre.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Monday asked marketers across the country to begin dispensing petrol at N180 per litre and above.
The union gave this directive because it claimed it was no longer possible to sell at the government’s cap of N165 per litre.
This was disclosed by the Lagos Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Akin Akinrinade, in an interview with Channels TV.
He explained the reasons behind the fuel scarcity, stating that the situation across the state was as a result of the operating environment which had become hostile to their businesses.
He mentioned that the petroleum marketers were not on strike as circulated but had found it difficult to operate considering the dependence on diesel whose price has skyrocketed.
He said, “Members of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria IPMAN have shut down their stations, not because we are striking; we are not on strike.
“Rather, the business environment has been very hostile to us such that we can no longer do business under this condition. For you to load a litre of petrol, you pay in N162 per litre.”
He however disassociated the situation with the removal of subsidy or deregulation of the petroleum sector.
He listed the high cost of buying petrol at the depots, the high cost of diesel for running their station, and the increased cost of freight as the major factors responsible.
Akinrinade stressed that it was no longer feasible to sell the product at the recommended price of N165 to a litre, adding that the landing cost of petrol was between N175 to N178 naira to the litre.
“You now have to add the cost of transportation which is between N6 to N8, depending on the distance within Lagos,” he explained. “If it is outside Lagos, it is much more than that. So, if you add N8 to N162, you already have N170 and the government which is the regulator wants us to sell at N165; we have not even added the charges at the depot and the running cost at our stations.”