An expert has indicated that NNPCL engages only with companies that have applied and paid for their petroleum products, rather than with associations like IPMAN.
This statement from IPMAN follows the recent announcement that NNPC has raised the pump price of petrol by 15 percent, bringing it to N998 per liter in Lagos and N1,030 per liter in Abuja.
Chief Chinedu Ukadike, the Public Relations Officer for IPMAN, expressed that marketers will seek products from the most cost-effective sources to enhance their competitiveness.
Ukadike emphasized that the current petrol pricing landscape is opaque, with marketers often left uninformed about decisions prior to their implementation.
He remarked, “The situation has been clouded in secrecy, but as full deregulation takes effect, we will see how marketers respond. We will determine whether to align with Dangote or pursue better pricing elsewhere.”
Earlier, IPMAN President Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi Shettima called for a refund of N15 billion from NNPC Limited for petrol orders that independent marketers placed but did not receive.
In an interview with Channels TV, Shettima stated that if NNPC's pricing exceeds that of Dangote Refinery, the national oil company is obligated to reimburse the payments made by independent marketers.
He criticized NNPC for demanding additional payments from marketers despite failing to deliver the products for which they had already paid.
An anonymous expert criticized the oil marketers, asserting that the NNPCL does not engage in business with them, including IPMAN.
The expert explained, “NNPCL does not maintain a business relationship with IPMAN since the association failed to complete the necessary form and pay for the petrol lifting from the company.
Instead, the NNPCL collaborates with various other companies.”