Abuja – Stakeholders in the petroleum industry have identified inadequate supply, sharp practices by private depots owners and epileptic refineries as factors responsible for pump prices differentials in the country.
They made this known in a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the “Challenges of enforcing the new petroleum pump price of N86 and N86.50 per litre in the country’’.
They said that except these factors were addressed it would be difficult for government to enforce its new pump price regime of N86 and N86.50 per litre.
In Abuja, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said that FCT metropolis had 100 per cent compliance to the new pump price, adding that the outskirt was the problem.
PPPRA Assistant General Manager and Head of Operations Victor Shidok told NAN that the agency would go up to the outskirts to enforce the price.
Shidok, however, said that such was hard to be attained across the country, but noted that with strong monitoring mechanism by the appropriate agency 100 per cent compliance would be achieved.
“This whole essence of the monitoring is to ensure that the marketers comply with the new pump price.’’
It would recalled that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, had directed that any depot or filling station found selling petrol above the official be sealed for three months.
Kachikwu said that licences of those found consistently breaching the rules and regulations would be withdrawn to ensure discipline in the system.
“We cannot afford to allow indiscipline in the system when people know what to do,’’ he said.
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He described as false allegation that most depots were not buying at a cost that would enable them to sell to marketers at approved pump price.
Also, Mr Mordecai Ladan, Director, Petroleum Resources, DPR, said that the department was working on electronic tracking of all supply across the country.
In the South-West states the stakeholders said that only proactive measures by regulatory agencies could ensure compliance with the new petrol price regime.
They told NAN in separate interviews that the regulatory agencies such as the DPR, PPPRA, NNPC as well as security outfits could help effect compliance.
In Ibadan, Oyo State, Mr Waheed Olojede, state Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), called on the Federal Government to ensure that the agencies responsible for enforcing compliance of the new pump price were doing their job.
He said government policy on the new pump price would not yield any positive result if agencies like DPR and PPPRA were not enforcing the policy effectively.
Olojede said that many petrol stations were not selling at the new pump price because the PPPRA and DPR were not really monitoring the level of compliance.
He said that implementation of government policy was the only way Nigerians could enjoy the dividends of democracy.
“Government also needs to reduce the price of petrol from N86 because the price has dropped in the world market.
“The Federal Government needs to stop refining crude oil outside the country and build Nigeria’s refining capacity so that the price of petrol will be cheaper, thereby stabilising its price,’’ he said.
Also, Mr Kabiru Ayodele, Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Challenge Area of Ibadan, said that petrol was still being sold above the pump price in most filling stations in Ibadan.
He commended the government for reducing the price of petrol to N86 and N86.50, and urged it to ensure that DPR and PPPRA monitor the level of compliance, saying the agencies were not doing enough.
Mr Tayo Rasak, Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Oyo State Chapter, said that the nation’s local refineries were not fully functional and this had compelled the importation of the products.
Rasak said that the importation of the products implied that the price would be determined by the forces of demand and supply, adding that fixing a price by government requires that it partakes through subsidising the product.
He said that it was difficult for the government to enforce the price of a good it did not subsidise.
The IPMAN chairman said that the non-availability of the product could be attributed to the low production capacity of the refineries and the damage to pipelines.
Rasak added that the prices of petroleum products could be stabilised and enforced if the local refineries were fully working and the facilities were in good condition.
A motorist, Mrs Folake Esther, said that most petrol filling stations did not have the product while those that have were not selling at the new pump price of N86.50.
Mr Kamorudeen Azeez, another motorist, told NAN in Ibadan that the new price regime could be enforced by the PPPRA.
In Abeokuta, Ogun, a former Chairman of IPMAN in the state, Mr Bisi Adesida, however, expressed confidence in the ability of the DPR to enforce the new pump price nationwide.
Adesida said that enforcement of the price was outside the responsibility of the PPPRA, saying, “it can only determine the price’’.
He noted that the DPR, which maintained offices in all the 21 depots across the country, was in a better position to enforce the new pump price.
Adesida explained that officials of the department were always on ground to monitor activities at the Mosimi Depot which services the other four depots in the South-West Zone in Ore, Ibadan, Ilorin, and the satellite depot in Lagos
“There is no truck that can load petrol from Mosimi without the knowledge of DPR.
“A manifest is usually being produced that details the price, quantity, the marketer, the address and other information to enable the agency monitor the sale,’’ he said.
He lauded the activities of DPR since the inception of the new price regime on Jan. 1, citing the closure of five fuel stations in Abeokuta on Thursday.
The former chairman said he was in support of such sanctions against any marketer in Abeokuta who got supply from Mosimi and then sell above the regulated price.
He, however, argued that making the product readily available was more crucial than fixing and enforcing the pump price.
The former IPMAN chairman noted that inadequate supply of petrol accounted for the ongoing scarcity and price differentials being experienced in the country.
“The three refineries in Nigeria are currently producing six million litres of petrol daily while the daily consumption rate is 33 million litres.
“The Federal Government is only rationing the available products among the 21 depots in the country with preferential treatment to public depots and the situation has led to scarcity.
“That is why the Mega stations always have petrol while other marketers struggle to secure supply from the government.
“The last time I secured supply from Mosimi was before Christmas and you do not expect me to fold my arms because I have to pay salaries to my workers.
“I cannot wait for Mosimi, so I am considering going to a private depot at Lagos where the product is sold at above N90 per litre.
“You can then imagine how much I will have to sell petrol per litre after factoring haulage and profit margin,’’ he said.
Adesida, who alleged that the DPR was aware of the exorbitant price at which the private depots sell the product, argued that it was not morally justifiable for it to force marketers who bought from such depots to sell at the regulated price.
He, therefore, urged the government to expedite action at solving the problem of inadequate production.
Adesida expressed optimism that overtime, deregulation would stabilise price subject to availability of the product.
“The price level will adjust itself through the forces of demand and supply by the time marketers begin to compete among themselves,’’ he said.
The state Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Fajobi Adebayo, urged the Federal Government to get its priorities right.
Fajobi urged the Federal Government to consider other means of transporting the product from Apapa to the various depots.
He said that the five depots in the South-West zone were adequate, and expressed regrets that four of them have to depend on the Mosimi Depot.
He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to direct relevant agencies to find solution to the challenge of vandals so that the products could be moved directly to the depots through pipelines.
In Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti, the marketers had not complied with the new pump price.
The state IPMAN Secretary, Alhaji Subair Jimoh, said unless the government intervenes in the current fuel crisis across the country, the present fuel scarcity would be difficult to tackle.
Jimoh said there were only two sources of procuring fuel to the state citing the NNPC and independent suppliers in Apapa, Lagos.
He appealed to the government to work for a tolerable price regime in the country while reconsidering its stance on the issue of subsidy.
He said oil marketers were ever ready to support measures that might be put in place by the Federal Government to end the current fuel crisis.
The state NLC Chairman, Ade Adesanmi and his TUC counterpart, Odunayo Adesoye, said organised labour would not allow workers to suffer unjustly, while Mr Oluwole Jegede, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and National Gas said the association was on the side of the ordinary man.
In Akure, Ondo State, marketers had not complied, but instead shun opening in the morning hours to evade monitoring agencies.
“So many of the filling stations owned by independent oil marketers usually close for business in the morning and afternoon to avoid sanction by DPR, but they sell the product in the night at N120 per litre.
“Some of them are so brave that they still sell fuel at N120 in the morning, regardless of threat of sanction by DPR.
“The Federal Government should put in place stricter measures to ensure compliance and ensure efficient monitoring, even at night,” Owoseeni said.
Mr Francis Akinola, an official of DPR in the state, said the body was strategising to sanction defaulting filling stations in the night.
Akinola advised members of the public to report any filling station hoarding or selling above official fuel price.
However, Mr Bayo Olowookere, IPMAN Chairman in Akure, said that those selling above the new official price were marketers with old stock.
Olowookere noted that it would be difficult for independent oil marketers to sell at the new pump price if government, through NNPC, did not make the product available at reasonable rate.
Mr Henry Obada, National Coordinator for Oil and Gas, Basic Registry and Information System in Nigeria (BRISIN), called for deregulation of oil sector in order to stabilise price and supply.
Obada told NAN that deregulation of oil sector would stabilise oil prices.
He said deregulation would also make supply available because marketers could now go to different countries to buy and also sell at
varying prices.
According to him, the PPPRA can enforce the uniform pump pricing system of N86 across the nation.
Obada said it was the policy of NNPC to enforce and make regulations on issues affecting petroleum products.
“Having said that, this is not to say there are no defaulters who make supply of petroleum difficult.
“The uniformity of petrol prices is more of a paper thing than practical due to lack of adequate supply of product, as places such as Maiduguri, Kano, Katsina may not have as much as Lagos or Ilorin,” he said.
He said that the duty of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund in the country was to bring about unification of pricing all over the country, saying that the depot price was a national thing.
He explained that there were depots all over the nation, selling at different prices, and the inadequate supplies was the reason depots sell at different prices.
“The refineries do not operate at100 per cent and we consume about 20 million litres of petrol, and the fact remains that our refineries cannot produce up to 10 million litres.
“Adding up the total cost of the supply of petroleum into the country is at a skyrocket rate, who will then pay for the subsidy?”
An economist, Dr Gbolahan AbdulGafar, urged the Federal Government to set up a special committee for the enforcement of new pump price of petrol
Gafar, who teaches economics at the University of Ilorin, told NAN that the committee must have members in all the states of the federation.
He said the committee should collaborate with stakeholders in the oil sector to achieve the desired result.
The Chairman of NURTW, Sawmill branch, llorin, Alhaji Salawu Adisa, advised the government to closely monitor the activities of independent marketers to enforce the new price.
He alleged that some of them engage in diversion of petrol to outlets that would dispense the product at exorbitant price.
Some commercial drivers, who spoke with NAN, called for stiffer sanctions, against any filling that engage in sharp practices.
In Kaduna, Kano and Kebbi members of IPMAN attributed the differentials in cost of petrol in filling stations to sharp practice perpetrated by Independent Depot owners.
They told NAN that the depot owners were selling the commodity above the N77 per litre approved by the Federal Government.
IPMAN spokesman in Kaduna Sani Sal-sabil said that members of the association were getting the product at between N90 and N120, thus making it difficult to sell petrol in filling stations at the approved rate of N86.50 per litre.
“The Federal Government should use the PPPRA, DPR and Department of State Services (DSS) to enforce the official price from the Independent depot owners and importers.
“That is the only and best way the new price regime will be stabilised and implemented by others product marketers and retailers.’’
Sal-sabil said that the measure would soften the grounds for the marketers to lift the product from the southern part of the country to the northern region.
According to him, more than 85 per cent of the Independent marketers are not accessing the product at the official price.
Sal-sabil noted that only the NNPC now access the product at the government price.
“That is the reason why the NNPC can sell at the official price, but the quantity cannot go round the country and is not regular too.’’
Alhaji Bashir Danmalam, IPMAN Chairman in Kano State, also blamed the situation on deport owners refusal to sell the commodity at approved price.
“Before now marketers were paying N77.66 per liter but with the new price they will be paying N77 only. This is a commendable gesture.
“So, we hope government will ensure that depots adhere strictly to the new approved price of N77 so that marketers can sell at the N86.50 per litre as approved for them to sell,’’ he said.
Danmalam said government should take stringent measures to ensure that depots adhere strictly to the new price.
He advised government to rehabilitate all the nation’s refineries to enable them operate at full capacity and reduce over dependence on imports.
He said the Federal Government must also reposition DPR and PPPRA to enable them work effectively.
“The two organisations should be able to discharge their responsibilities by making sure that petroleum product is sold at the government approved price.’’
He expressed support for the removal of fuel subsidy as according to him, only few individuals are enjoying the money.
“We will support the removal of fuel subsidy because none of our members are benefitting from the subsidy and secondly, it is not beneficial to majority of Nigerians who are the masses,’’ Danmalam said.
According to him, marketers in the state are ready to support the government in its effort to ensure availability of the commodity.
“Marketers are ready to support the Federal Government to ensure availability of the commodity in the state and the country at large,’’ he said.
In Kebbi, the North-West zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji Dantila Jega, said the government must resolve the disparity in the pump price in order to make the commodity available.
He said that some marketers in the state had purchased the product at official rates from Lagos five months ago but were yet to receive delivery.
Jega noted that the failure of government to settle the payment of backlog of equalisation fund to oil retailers had edged out independent marketers, hence the difference in pricing.
He said 216 private filling stations in Kebbi “cannot afford to buy at high rate and sell at lower rate’’ as that would wipe us out from business.
The IPMAN zonal chairman said the Federal Government should deploy officials of DPR to depots in order to enforce the official price.
Alhaji Murtala Usman, the Kebbi NLC chairman, decried the untold hardship faced by motorists in accessing petrol.
Usman advised the government to check activities of saboteurs to restore normalcy in the supply and distribution chain.
He said deregulation of petroleum industry was the best solution to ensuring availability of petroleum products.
However, the Operational Controller of the DPR, Kaduna Zone, Usman Ndanusa, blamed the failure to comply with the government approved price on the activities of middlemen.
Ndanusa claimed that the importers were selling the product at government price, saying that the middlemen were the ones selling to independent marketers above the official rate.
He assured that relevant supervisory agencies were working to address the problem and ensure total compliance.
The DPR controller said the department had recently closed down more than 10 filling stations in Kaduna state for failing to comply with the new price regime.
The official appealed to motorists to be patient as the new price would soon reflect on all the dispensing stations in Kaduna zone.
He advised motorists to be vigilant and endeavour to collect receipts, especially from filling stations selling above the approved price to serve as evidence.
“It will help the DPR to pin such filling station down because some of the stations are smart.’’
Ndanusa said the public needed more education on the need to insist on buying the product at the stipulated price and resist attempts by marketers to hike pump price.
In Bauchi, the stakeholders called for the optimal operation of all government-owned refineries as a way of ensuring compliance with the new price regime.
Some of them, who spoke with NAN in Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Adamawa and Gombe, said so long as there was inadequate supply of the product, enforcing the new price would be difficult.
The IPMAN Chairman in Bauchi State, Alhaji Adamu Rabiu, noted that the non-availability of petrol in some of the government-owned deports, had created the problem of demand being higher than supply.
Rabiu said that Independent marketers still received about 95 per cent of their supplies from private deports in the country.
He, therefore, advised the Federal Government to concentrate on making government refineries work optimally.
He said that this was one of the ways of ensuring the enforcement of the new price regime.
“We, the Independent Marketers, still procure 95 per cent of the product from private deports.
“But if we can procure from government’s deports, the problem of supplies and selling above official pump price, will be resolved,’’ he said.
Also, the state NURTW Chairman, Alhaji Sule Adamu, said that once government controlled all supplies of petrol in the country, all the sufferings would be history.
Adamu said with the government being in control of all petrol supplies, the pump price would be uniform across the nation.
“But first, the Nigerian government must provide enough products in government-owned refineries, so that nobody or association will come up with complaints of high cost of procurement from private refineries.
In his contribution, NLC Chairman in Borno Titus Abana called for the establishment of special courts to try those involved in sharp practices in the down-stream sector of fuel supplies.
Abana told NAN in Maiduguri that the action was the only way to ensure that fuel was made available to Nigerians at the official pump price.
“Dealers found hoarding or diverting the commodity must be treated as saboteurs and saboteurs must be prosecuted to send signals to others,” he said.
According to him, some fuel dealers are only interested in making maximum profit as such will continue to create excuses to justify their actions.
Muhammad Bushara, the state NURTW Chairman, said government had the instruments to enforce compliance with official pump price if it so wished to do so.
“Government can enforce the price if it wanted to do so because it has the powers. It can close defaulting petrol stations,” Bushara said.
Bushara, however, objected to the issue of subsidy removal as a solution, adding that such a measure could bring hardship to Nigerians.
Malam Ibrahim Sale, a vehicle owner in Maiduguri, was of the opinion that flooding the market with the product was the only way of ensuring price control.
Mr Akenn Musa, Operations Controller of DPR in Yola, also observed that the variation in prices of petrol was caused by the activities of the black marketers.
Musa said that the PPRA had taken major steps to fix an acceptable and affordable price of the product, noting that DPR was committed to enforcing the new pump price.
“I want to assure you that the Federal government will not spare any marketer that violates the new price policy,” Musa warned.
On their part, motorists, commuters and commercial tricycle operators in Damaturu, Yobe, were skeptical about the ability of the authorities to enforce the N86.50 pump price, noting that the long chain of saboteurs spend sleepless nights mapping out strategies to cut corners.
Some of them, who spoke to NAN, alleged that some supervising officials and other stakeholders often collaborated to sabotage the enforcement of the official pump for personal benefits.
Musa Kaka, a commercial motorist, claimed that “whenever officials of DPR visited the state to enforce the government approved price, we experience more hardships of acute petroleum scarcity in the filling stations.
“Damaturu, the state capital, has very few major marketers and depend largely on independent marketers, who sell between N120 and N130 per liter, and close their stations whenever there is hint of the presence of regulatory authorities,’’ he said.
Some motorists and commuters alleged that stakeholders, including security operatives, who were supposed to enforce the law, were buying fuel at the stations and selling to black marketers.
Alhaji Ali Gaji, Permanent Secretary, Yobe Ministry of Commerce and Chairman State Task Force on Petroleum Products Procurement and Distribution, said the task force also received similar complaints and deliberated with heads of security agencies in the state.
Gaji said a truck was recently diverted by the managers of a filling station, who was arrested and made to produce the missing truck.
He assured that the task force would continue to monitor the activities of its members and petrol marketers to ensure that no sharp practices took place.
Meanwhile, some people in Damaturu have advocated for the withdrawal of the petrol subsidy as it was not serving the purpose intended.
One of them, Bukar Manu, a former students’ union leader, said government should remove the subsidy to save its resources and fund other projects and programmes that would impact directly on the lives of the people.
In Hadejia town of Jigawa, Malam Baballe Haruna, NURTW Treasurer, in Hadejia Local Government of Area, also noted that oil marketers were in the habit of diverting petroleum products to create artificial scarcity with a view to hiking the pump price.
In his contribution, Gombe State Chairman of the NURTW, Alhaji Ibrahim Bala, also called on the Federal Government to ensure availability of petroleum product in abundance in the country for the price to stabilise.
Also, Mr iliy Laro, Manager Oando Petrol Filling Station, Gombe, said government should ensure that all refineries were operating optimally.
“If the refineries are functional, there will be sufficient supply, igniting competition among marketers, thereby forcing the price to be stable,” he said.
In South-south zone, IPMAN described the new pump price as a welcome development.
Its Chairman in Port Harcourt, Mr Sunny Nkpe, said that the association would cooperate with government to implement the new price regime.
“For us at IPMAN, whatever intervention or price adjustment by government is a welcome development as long as the product is made available,’’ said.
“The situation in Port Harcourt is not too stable because most of the private depots have not received products and we all rely on NNPC, which is inadequate to take care of consumer needs here,’’ he said.
Mr Tonye Briggs, Manager of a petrol station in Port Harcourt, stressed the need to make the product available to maintain a stable price.
“Some stations are not selling at the government approved price because they cannot easily get the product.
“That is why some still sell at above the price to make up for the cost of buying it at higher prices.
“It might interest you to know that some stations still sell at N120 and N130 per litre, depending on how much they bought it,’’ he said.
For, Mrs Kate Umoh, a teacher and mother of four, it is still business as usual because I have been buying at N120 per litre and nobody has come out to tell me why government has not enforced the new price regime.
In Benin, the scarcity of petrol remained unabated and motorists pay as much as N140 per litre where the product was available.
NAN checks revealed that only few major marketers dispense fuel at approved pump price of N86.50K per litre.
Motorists also complained that even when they displayed N86.50K on their pumping machines; it did not correspond with the quantity bought.
The Chairman of the Edo Petroleum Monitoring Taskforce, Mr Amen Osunde, said the scarcity was “artificial’’, and accused major marketers of colluding independent marketers to divert it.
“When this product gets into the hands of independent marketers, they sell at high price and pretend as if they bought from private depot,’’ he said.
Osunde said the taskforce was collaborating with depot managers to ensure that trucks were tracked from the depot to point of discharge.
In Calabar, IPMAN members had complied with the new price regime.
NAN reports that because of the availability of petrol in major filling stations in Calabar metropolis with fewer queues, the black market sellers were not having it easy.
A Motorist, Mr Uchenna Ibechukwu, said that he bought fuel at approved N86.50 per litre.
“Yes, I just bought petrol from Mobil along MCC, for N86.50 and I filled my tank because you cannot predict what will happen tomorrow, ‘’ he said.
Ibechukwu commended the Federal Government for bringing down the price of petrol, adding that it would cushion the effect of the current economic hardship in the country
In South-East zone, stakeholders in the downstream oil sector said that a nationwide uniform price regime for oil products might not be attainable in the country.
They believe, however, that strict policy implementation and further decentralisation of product distribution could help to achieve the objective.
An oil merchant in Umuahia, Mr Joel Ochor, said it had been difficult for the premium motor spirit to sell at government-approved pump price because of the procurement process.
Ochor told NAN that the new pump price would be difficult to enforce as long as the product could not be procured at the depot.
Ochor said that the Aba depot of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation had not received stock for about three months, adding that marketers in the area depended on the open market to remain in business.
“Marketers depend on the open market to buy the product at between N120 and N125 per litre,’’ he said, adding that they had to sell at a price to cover the cost price and other incidental charges.
He said that for marketers to sell at uniform price, government must ensure the availability of the product at the depot as well as strictly supervise its distribution in order to check discrepancies and sharp practices.
“If marketers can purchase the product at the approved rate from the depots, I bet you, we will all sell at the new pump price of N86.50 per liter,’’ he said.
In the same vein, a motorist, Mr Peter Imo, said that for the government to implement the new pump price, it had to ensure regular supply of the product at the depots.
Imo expressed reservations concerning the role of the DPR in the state, saying that the regulatory agency should make itself relevant and active in checking the excesses of some marketers in the state.
He said that “it is a notorious fact that while some marketers hoard the product others who purchased from the NNPC depot, resell to other marketers at a higher rate.
“The DPR should be alive to its responsibility to be able to check such discrepancies and sharp practices by some unscrupulous marketers,’’ Imo said.
In Ebonyi, a cross section of Abakaliki residents commended the Federal Government for reducing the petrol pump price, urging it to ensure strict monitoring.
According to the residents, relevant government agencies, including the PPPRA and the DPR should ensure that petroleum marketers adhered to the directive and adjust their meters to reflect the pump price.
The residents, including motorists, labour leaders, artisans, among others, told NAN in separate interviews that non-compliance with the new pump price would affect the social and economic lives of the people.
They called on relevant authorities to intervene and ensure that the average Nigerian enjoyed the new pump price by invoking relevant laws to deal with offenders, describing non-compliance to the directive as economic sabotage.
A commercial bus driver, Mr John Mbachu who spoke to NAN on the issue expressed sadness that no filling station in Abakaliki had reflected the new pump price, adding that a litre of the product still sold at between N130 and N140 per litre.
“We jumped up in happiness when we heard on Jan. 1 that FG has reduced petrol pump price to N86 for major marketers and N86.50 for independent marketers.
“It is however disheartening that till date, with the exception of NNPC Mega filling station, no other filling station in Abakaliki was selling the commodity at the new price.
“In some states of the federation we hear that officials of the PPPRA, DPR and even the IPMAN was going round visiting filling stations to be ensure that they enforce compliance,’’ Mbachu said.
Another motorist, Mr Gabriel Urom, said oil marketers were inflicting so much pains and misery on the people by deliberate hike in petrol pump price.
Urom urged the authorities to take necessary steps to salvage the exploitation of the Nigeria masses by oil cabal.
“There would have been a spontaneous reaction by oil marketers if government had announced an increase in the pump price per litre by adjusting their meters to reflect the increment.
“But now it has to do with price reduction, filling station operators are not willing to direct their management to reflect the new tariff,’’ Urom said.
He expressed optimism on the ability of the regulatory agencies to enforce compliance, saying that they have all the statutory instruments to enforce compliance.
He called on the Federal Government to wield the big stick on the defaulters in the interest of the economy.
Also, the Chairman of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union at the Ebonyi State College of Education, Mr Greg Esheye, called for monitoring to ensure compliance.
Esheye said that the oil marketers were in the habit of not responding to government directive anytime there was a reduction in oil pump price.
“The decision is actually a New Year package for the average Nigerian, but the question remains how fast the oil marketers will respond to the directive, especially the independent marketers.
“The government should ensure that the various regulatory agencies embark on routine monitoring to ensure compliance by filling station operators,” said.
Mr Joseph Nweke, NLC Chairman in the state, said that he would join any genuine agitation by members of the public to compel oil marketers to revert to the new government price regime.
“The union has watched with great concern the refusal of owners of filling stations to adjust their metres to reflect the new pump price.
“The union will not hesitate to join any genuine agitation to compel defaulting filling stations to adjust their metres,’’ Nweke said.
He noted that deregulation would serve the best interest of Nigerians in the long run as it would make the downstream sector more competitive and attractive.
A member of the NURTW, Mr Ephraim Ogbu, urged the PPPRA to end the exploitation of Nigerians by oil marketers by ensuring strict enforcement to ensure compliance.
“They in the PPPRA know what to do to end the end the ceaseless hardship the oil marketers subject Nigerians to if actually they mean to enforce the new price regime.
“Again government should begin a process of breaking the powers of the oil barons by removal of the scam called subsidy and libralise the sector,’’ Ogbu said.
NAN visited many filling stations in the metropolis and report that none of the filling stations, including those owned by major and independent marketers had adjusted to the new price reduction of N86.50 per litre.
NAN also reports that majority of respondents on the subject favoured deregulation, stressing that it would not only enhance product availability but open up the sector for more participation.
In Anambra, the Campaign for Democracy (CD), called on the Federal Government to build more functional refineries to sustainably tackle the persistent scarily of premium motor spirit.
Mr Vincent Ezekweme, the Chairman of the organisation in Anambra, told NAN that the new price would continue to be a mirage unless the government found a lasting solution to it.
Ezekweme called on the Federal Government to take a more holistic approach to the petrol availability and distribution in the country for a more sustainable solution to the problem.
He said the organisation had watched with dismay the untold hardship that has visited Nigerians of every socio-economic strata due to the hike in price and scarcity of PMS I’m the last few months.
He said it was not understandable why Nigeria which was on the league of top seven petroleum producing countries should still rely on import of refined crude to satisfy the local demand of citizens.
He called on the Federal Government to build at least one refinery in each of the six geopolitical zones on the country and ensure that they were functional.
He described low capacity utilisation in the existing refineries in the country as sabotage and urged the Federal Government to muster the political will to end the payment of subsidy on imported products.
On his part, the Operations Controller, DPR Enugu Office, Mr Peter Ijeh, said that they resolved to ensure that marketers complied with the government pricing policy on PMS.
Ijeh, who said that a number of fillings stations had their product sanctioned and the outlets shutdown for 90 days, explained that the DPR devised a coupon that would indicate how much the marketers bought their products.
He pointed that no marketer produced the coupon as a proof of purchase price.
“The enforcement is ongoing and a number of filling stations have been affected. The marketers are difficult people to deal with because they do not want to come to terms with the reality of the new PMS pump price.
“They claimed to have bought above the normal price approved by government, but we gave them a coupon which will enable us to know the price at which they bought and identify the defaulting depots.
“None of them have been able to produce the filled coupon; rather they claim that after the coupon that they were asked to pay more money, which there is no evidence to justify their claim.
“Unfortunately, there is no depot in my area, so there is no way we can know these details unless they prove it. For us, we shall continue the campaign until we have total and full compliance,” he said.
The IPMAN in Anambra expressed dismay over the auctioning of their petrol by officials of the DPR.
The state IPMAN Chairman, Chief Osita Ofodile, told NAN that his members were willing to comply with the new price regime for PMS.
“As partners in development, we are ready to comply with the new price regime but we are incapacitated by the cost of products at the depots, which was still high.
“The affected marketers are now in debt crisis while others are in fear because they want to sell at a price below their cost price.
Meanwhile, many of the independent marketers in Enugu have resorted to night sales to avert possible sanctions by the DPR. (NAN)