THE Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC') efforts to address the scarcity of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) otherwise known as Kerosene, took a dramatic turn at the weekend as a player in the downstream sector in the industry, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) kicked against the NNPC's allocation of products meant for its members through a private depot in Lagos, the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO).
The NNPC had on Thursday disclosed that it had allocated 10,000 metric tonnes of kerosene to IPMAN to be discharged through NIPCO.
But addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, National President of IPMAN, Alhaji Musa Felande, while appreciating the good intention of the NNPC management, however kicked against the allocation of products meant for its members through NIPCO .
Felande alleged that NIPCO has not been transparent in its transactions with independent petroleum marketers in the country.
"IPMAN believes in NNPC as a fair player in the industry. We wish to state clearly that hitherto, all kerosene allocation for IPMAN went to NIPCO, but how much was sent to NIPCO as IPMAN allocation, how it is being distributed among various zones, and consequently depots in Nigeria remains a secret. We wonder why NNPC/PPMC continue to give preferential treatment to NIPCO when it comes to IPMAN allocation,'' he said.
"We in IPMAN hold NIPCO and its directors responsible for scarcity of kerosene. To us, they are largely responsible, not transparent in the
distribution of kerosene discharged to their depot, as only NIPCO directors/marketers and a few cohorts benefit from its distribution. To this end, we strongly appeal to NNPC/ PPMC to stop the discharge of our products allocation to NIPCO," Felande said.
He revealed that IPMAN has entered into an agreement with another private depot in Lagos which it believes has a larger capacity to take its products for eventual distribution to its members nationwide.
"The only solution for IPMAN will be to take its products to a more transparent depot where NNPC will monitor the distribution to our members.
"There is a subsisting court order restraining NNPC from taking IPMAN products to NIPCO; the IPMAN leadership under Musa Feland does not have any problem with NNPC. IPMAN has signed Memorandum of Understanding with an indigenous oil company which has strong NNPC presence in its premises for fairness and equitable distribution of products to IPMAN members.
"The present kerosene scarcity is not good for the image of our country. In fact, it erodes the purchasing power of the citizens at a time when the common man is struggling to put food on his table," he added.
The Guardian