The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has expressed its commitment to support the Federal Government’s efforts in eliminating corruption in the downstream sector.

The Chairman, Board of Trustees of IPMAN, Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadir, stated thison Sundayin Yola during an interactive session on ‘Challenges of Fuel Supply and Distribution.’

The seminar was organised by Adamawa/Taraba Chapters of IPMAN, Transport Owners and Petroleum Tanker Drivers.

Abdulkadir said the association, which controlled about 85 per cent of petrol outlets across the country, had a vital role to play in checking the problem of products scarcity nationwide.

The BOT chairman absolved IPMAN regarding products scarcity, adding that corruption by some government officials and insufficient supply of the products by the government agencies were causing problems.

The BOT chairman lauded Adamawa/Taraba Chapter for organising the interactive session in order to bring out the challenges facing the sector for possible solutions.

Abdulkadir said that he would direct other branches in the country to do same.

In his speech, the Adamawa/Taraba Branch Chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji Abubakar Butu, said IPMAN should not always be blamed “whenever there is fuel scarcity or price increase.”

Butu called on government agencies to do their job without discrimination.

“For instance, government said we should buy from depots at the cost of N76.50 per litre and sell at N86.50 but the fact is that we do not get the product from the depots at N76.50.

“Government officials are aware of this but are not ready to clampdown on the depot owners.”

He said that NNPC was not helping matters because the product was always not available at NNPC.

Butu said this had forced the marketers to rely solely on private depots who sell sometimes as high as N100 per litre.

The Branch Secretary of IPMAN, Mr Malik Bello, said that 90 per cent of fuel supply to Adamawa and Taraba were from private depots.

“We marketers patronise these depots because of the availability of the product and the failure of PPMC to provide the product in their depots so that we can buy and supply Nigerians at the official price.

“For instance, from October last year to the middle of January 2016, the bulk supply to Adamawa and Taraba states came from these private depots; instead of PPMC refineries which we have a bulk purchase agreement with to supply us.”

He noted that 1, 248 trucks of petrol were bridged by IPMAN from the private depots for Adamawa and Taraba against 134 trucks from the PPMC within the period under review.

Bello listed non-payment of transportation bill to members by the Petroleum Equalisation Fund as and when due, as one of the challenges facing IPMAN members in the two states.

He also mentioned insecurity due to robbery attacks on filling stations as some of the other challenges facing members in the two states. (NAN)