The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), Kano State chapter, has told its members to ignore the directive on new price of fuel and sell the product at N125 per litre until their old stocks are sold off.
Recall that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had on Tuesday announced a second reduction in the pump price of fuel from N125 per litre to 123.50 per litre.
Addressing a news conference in Kano on Wednesday, IPMAN Chairman for Kano State, Bashir Danmalam, insisted that members of the association would not comply with the new price regime until they sell off all their old stocks.
He lamented that when the Federal Government reduced the price of fuel from N145 per litre to N125 per litre, its members nationwide lost over N5.5bn due to the suddenness of the action.
He stressed that this time around, they were not ready to incur any such losses.
“We called on government to compensate or support our members who incurred the huge losses due to the sudden reduction in fuel pump price but nothing was given to us.
“But to our surprise, the private depots owners were paid; none of our members was supported to reduce the losses they incurred. This time round, we will not sell our products at the new price until the old stocks are exhausted.”
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Danmalam pointed out that IPMAN was the largest employer of labour after the Federal Government, adding that members of the union would not continue to operate at a loss.
“Apart from the Federal Government, IPMAN is the largest employer of labour in the country and we cannot continue to support the government at this trying time while we are operating at a loss,” he stated.
The labour leader accused the management of the PPPRA of trying to sabotage efforts of the Federal Government to ensure sustained fuel supply and distribution across the country through some policies that could plunge the sector into a serious crisis.
“Even though we are happy with the new development and the Federal Government should be commended for the gesture, the government should consider the fact that no sane marketer or businessman will continue operating their business at a loss.
“Before the last announcement, many of our members had already bought and loaded their vehicles with the product at old prices from Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri and we spent five to seven days before reaching our destinations. So we are not going to sell the product at the new price until we sell the old stocks.”
He warned that the union would not hesitate to ask its members to withdraw their services in the event of any filling station of their members being closed for not selling at the new pump price of N123.50 per litre.
