Fuel Scarcity Ends This Week As IPMAN Convokes Emergency Meeting For Tuesday

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Monday, March 10th, 2014

The National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria ( IPMAN) ,Alhaji Abdul kadir Aminu has assured Nigerians that fuel scarcity will end this week as his members are now loading products at terminals in Lagos.

Speaking on the fuel supply situation in the country, Aminu also informed Nigerians that he has convened an emergency meeting of IPMAN Central Working Committee for Tuesday to further brainstorm on the recent crisis and adopt measures to forestall future occurrence.

Aminu disclosed that his men are now moving products from coastal areas to the hinterland through roads even as he admitted that congestion at the terminals in Lags is slowing down products evacuation to the northern and eastern parts f the country.

“I can assure Nigerians that product availability has improved. Initial delay in vessels clearance at the port has been resolved. Our challenge now is gaining access to the terminals. You know is normally busy and when you add the rush by us to reach the terminals and load product, you can imagine the gridlock.

He said stakeholders are putting heads together to ensure that the vehicular gridlock does not stall product evacuation, assuring Nigerians that “neither government nor marketers are withholding all Nigerians. I urge Nigerians to exercise patient.

“Nobody is withholding products and I urge Nigerians to be patent as we move products to the hinterland .If all stakeholders cooperated, the situation will ease before the week runs out. We should be careful when we leveled accusations. What Nigerians need to know is that pipeline vandalism is worsening the situation.

“Under normal circumstances, eighty percent of the products are supposed to be transported through pipelines. The rest are supposed to be moved through trucks. Widespread pipeline vandalism halted that plan, hence the resort to land haulage of the products”, the IPMAN president said.

“We need to be careful when we are accusing NNPC and marketers in a situation in which vandals are daily bursting pipelines all over the country. We all need to unite to fight this menace,” he said.

On plans by the association to ease the distribution situation, Aminu said an emergency central working committee meeting of the association is scheduled to hold in Abuja to brainstorm on how to tackle the challenge. He added that the meeting would take far-reaching decisions on the fuel distribution crisis rocking the nation.