Fuel marketers want NNPC to allocate more petrol to South East zone

Association of Imo State Petroleum Marketers (AISPM) has decried the worst scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS or petrol) in the South East geopolitical zone, and has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to allocate more petrol under its ‘special petroleum intervention quota’ to states in the zone.

Christopher Amadi, the chairman of the marketers in Imo, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Owerri on Monday, saying the low allocation being received by Imo State was equally given to other southeastern states of Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra.

Amadi noted that the poor petrol allocation had compounded petrol scarcity in the geopolitical zone, adding that the zone experienced the worst product scarcity.

“While other states in the country receive more than 10 million litres of petrol under the NNPC petrol intervention, no state in the south-east gets above one to two million litres; and this low allocation is reason why petrol scarcity in the area seems more excruciating,” the AISPM boss said.

According to him, if NNPC increases quantity of petrol to Imo, and other states in the south-east, marketers would be able to sell at government controlled price.

Amadi then appealed to governors of the south-east zone to assist petroleum marketers, and look into the low allocation of petrol to states in the zone.

He reasoned that the low petrol allocation is the cause of the worst PMS scarcity in the zone. “Most filling stations in Imo State sell a litre of petrol at between N130 and N150, as against the official pump price of N86.50.”

Amadi explained that marketers in the zone were experiencing difficulty in sourcing petroleum products; adding that: “we only source products from private tank farms in Lagos, Calabar, and Port Harcourt at relatively high prices.”

He added that due to the far distance they cover and relatively high rate marketers in the area source for petroleum products, they cannot afford to sell at N86.50 per litre, saying: “marketers in Imo are shylock minded, as some people feel.”

The union leader also called on the Federal Government to step up its effort in reactivating all the nation’s refineries, noting that the present situation whereby Nigerians almost depend on private tank farms for the supply of petroleum products was extremely bad.

“I also appeal to the NNPC to reactivate the NNPC depots in Aba, Enugu, and Makurdi, as well as construct a new depot in Owerri to serve Imo State,” he stated; adding that the population of the state alone has doubled what it was when the NNPC Aba Depot was constructed many decades ago to serve the Old Imo State, now broken into Imo, Abia and Ebonyi states.