The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in Kano State has warned its members against hoarding and diversion of Petroleum products.
The IPMAN Chairman in the state, Alhaji Bashir Dan-Malam, on Thursday said that the warning became necessary following the reduction in the supply of the product due to the accident which occurred in Oyo state which led to the closure of the road by the vehicles involved.
“Marketers should not exploit the situation by causing artificial scarcity in the state as normalcy will soon be restored,” Dan-Malam said.
He said that the union’s monitoring committee in collaboration with the other regulating agencies would continue to go round to enforce compliance and to apprehend defaulting members.
The IPMAN chairman warned that any marketer found hoarding or diverting the product would be appropriately sanctioned.
Dan-Malam said that the union would not fold its arms and allow some unpatriotic members to sabotage the current effort toward resolving the problem bedeviling the sector.
“We know there was a problem but that should not be used to create artificial scarcity, instead we should cooperate with the government to resolve the problem.
“The meeting between the union and Federal Government is still ongoing and we hope all the pending issues will be resolved soon,” he said.
According to him, there is urgent need for members of the association to support the government in view of the fact that it has shown commitment toward resolving the crisis.
He, however, warned private depots to desist from selling the product to their members above the approved price as they would no longer accept the hike.
He commended the Federal Government for ensuring that Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, resumed normal production.
Many fuel marketers in the state had closed their filling stations while the few that opened had increased their price from N145 to between N150 and N160.