NNPC Towers Abuja

Femi Adi/Kaduna

Kaduna Chapter of Independent Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has  blamed the lingering fuel scarcity across the country on the failure of the Minister of State for  Petroleum to tackle the  corruption in Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

The marketers ,who said the extortions and other sharp practices at the PPMC/NNPC seemed to be defying  all interventions by successive administrations in Nigeria ,  expressed worry over  the new cabal at the corporation who specialises in extorting money  from IPMAN/ AMFSON members before issuing allocation of petroleum products.

IPMAN also alleged that kerosene allocations promised by the Minister of state for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu are yet to reach its members as they are, allegedly diverted to Kachikwu’s ” relations, friends and cronies”

“I challenge anybody to ask any marketer if they have gotten allocation,” Bako Abdullahi Yelwa, an ex-officio of IPMAN ,Bako Abdullahi Yelwa said today.

Yelwa  spoke on behalf of  IPMAN  members in Kaduna. He  said as marketers they have discovered that efforts to curb corruption in the corporation by  President Muhammadu Buhari’s  administration are not yielding the desired result .

Ibe Kachikwu: Minister of state for petroleum

He  said there is need for President Buhari to probe the Staff of PPMC/NNPC, who  have devised new ways of extorting money from petroleum products marketers.

“PPMC staff are frustrating Independent Marketers. Why will they ask for a percentage of our profit before giving us allocation?  And when we refuse,  they frustrate the process of getting our allocation. They only give product allocation to marketers that have given them a share of their profit upfront.

“For example, an Independent marketer gets an average of two allocations of Petrol (PMS) monthly and the profit from each truck is 80 thousand Naira. How can 160 thousand naira pay all my staff, service and maintain the stations and still keep me in business?

“There’s nothing to carry home about Kachikwus’ six months in office. His only achievements are confusion and contemplating the award of contacts for building of new empty PPMC/NNPC Mega filling stations with the aim of exterminating the existing Indigenous Independent Marketers despite their huge contributions towards the growth and development of the Nation.

“With the present crash of crude oil price globally to its worst level of below $35 per barrel, Kachikwu should concentrate on constructing new simple modular Refineries & hasten to reactive the existing ones so that our local production can rise to cope with the nation’s  petroleum products demands or even beyond. This will create more employments opportunities for many Nigerians in addition to boosting the nation’s economy.

“ We are forced to believe that Kachikwu is out to destabilise the Indigenous Independent Petroleum Marketers in Nigeria and cover his masters looting and cheating to Nigerians”.

He advised the President , who is also the minister of petroleum resources, to put on hold all plans to build more NNPC mega stations until all refineries have been turned around.

He also advised that all independent marketers and PPMC/NNPC affiliate stations should be supplied adequately with products , adding , “ This will help  curb the new cabal in the Oil & Gas Sector, made up of PPMC/NNPC staff, from frustrating his efforts to rid the petroleum sector of corruption.”

On the suit instituted against IPMAN  by PPMC/NNPC, he said:

“For the PPMC to sue IPMAN to court, claiming that they don’t know us and they don’t have any business with us ,speaks volumes. It is under Kachikwu Ibe that we are hearing this, how can you claim you don’t know us and you have been doing business with us for over 30 years .

“Most Petroleum Products Marketers believe that this move was borne out of selfishness and wickedness and flagrant disregard for the rule of law.

He equally  wondered why the minister was thinking of establishing more mega stations when they have not been able to satisfy NNPC affiliate stations with products.

“Is it because he knows that we are the only ones that can expose all his corrupt practices since he was made the GMD and now the minister?”