The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has announced that its members are unable to load petrol from the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, despite having paid ₦40 billion to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
IPMAN President Abubakar Garima made this statement during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Wednesday.
Garima expressed surprise at comments made by Aliko Dangote, the owner of the $20 billion refinery, suggesting that marketers were boycotting his refinery in favor of imported petrol.
He clarified that IPMAN members are not importing petrol and suggested that, instead of relying on NNPCL for access to Dangote’s petrol, the private refinery should directly register independent petrol marketers to facilitate smoother loading of the product.
“If he (Dangote) can be able to sell the product to us directly, we can buy the product, because we have to pay before we pick. Presently, we have ₦40bn under the NNPCL custody but we cannot source the product.
“Just of recent, there are some of my marketers that NNPCL sent to load in Dangote refinery and those marketers stayed with their trucks for four days, and they cannot load.”
More to follow…