The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has picked holes in the 2015 federal government budget proposal in which N1.22 trillion is budgeted for kerosene subsidy alone.
IPMAN shares industry stakeholders’ concern that government is not obviously pro-active in dealing with the issue of transparency deficit that has characterised petroleum subsidy.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP in an interview, IPMAN national treasurer Gani Dibu Aderibigbe noted that since the current National Assembly had promised to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) before the end of its tenure, it is believed that the law would end the era of fuel subsidy.
The union leader also noted that kerosene subsidy, its import and distribution had been shrouded in secrecy and handled in a way that end users did not have access to the product, and wondered why the government was budgeting such colossal sum for subsidy despite this.
Noting that only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) currently imports and distributes imported kerosene, he said: “The same NNPC distributes all imported and locally refined kerosene. It is because demand exceeds supply that causes scarcity. NNPC is unable to meet the demand. Other marketers are not allowed to import as it is done in the case of petrol and diesel. It means NNPC alone cannot import sufficient kerosene for this country.”
He also raised the issue of distribution which, he said, is a major problem causing scarcity.
According to Aderibigbe, since the IPMAN crisis started, all kerosene allocations to members were done without the union’s leaders’ input.
“Some faceless marketers were even allocated four, five or even six trucks regularly whenever kerosene is being allocated, some are not given at all,” he alleged.
“The ones allocated to DAPMAN members where our members buy on regular basis are not sold at stipulated rates; how then will the buyers buy at high price and sell at lower regulated price. We have complained but no one seems to care, not even Department of petroleum Resources (DPR) – the industry police.”
Saying that NNPC sidelined IPMAN in kerosene distribution and did it directly with its subsidiary, Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) because of IPMAN’s leadership crisis, he, however, clarified the position of the union that it had only one president – Chief Obasi Lawson.
He, therefore, wondered why the IPMAN leadership could not be involved in the distribution of kerosene to members.
“If this is not done, I can’t see any hope for a better 2015. No marketer was consulted before arriving at the subsidy figure. It is NNPC figure probably arrived via statistics from NNPC.”
The IPMAN treasurer further gave the current daily local kerosene consumption as being around 15 million litres, and noted that, despite there being other alternatives like Liquefied Natural Gas (LPG), the demand for the product was growing because of its use in other sectors such as aviation, industrial processes and so on.
On the state of refineries he said: “The truth is that our refineries are not working optimally, hence the need to augment through import.
The importer is a government corporation, so if there is any problem, the searchlight should be turned to NNPC/PPMC.”
When LEADERSHIP sought the reaction of the NNPC on the allegation, the general manager, group public affairs, Ohi Alegbe, did not respond.
