As the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) hands-off the monopoly of petrol importation, petroleum marketers have demanded immediate release of their outstanding supplies of Premium Motor Sprit otherwise known as petrol worth N30.96 trillion by the National oil company.
At the Suleja/Abuja Secretariat of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), the marketers commended the Federal Government for ending the subsidy regime.
He however said the industry will never stabilise if the outstanding products tickets are not settled by the NNPCL.
In a statement, the chairman, Yahaya Ahman Alhassan expressed dismay over the long delay by the NNPCL to release the products to their members.
Alhassan said the NNPCL sold the product tickets to their members between six to seven months now, used the money to import fuel into the country but yet to dispense it up to this moment that despite several follow ups.
The Suleja/Abuja branch chairman further stated that the bridging scheme must be retained to stabilise the distribution of the product to the nooks and crannies of the
country.
He said government should not mistakenly scrap bridging scheme as its not a government owned subsidy.
“The scheme is self-funded by marketers. The government does not contribute a kobo into the scheme and the has helped various governments in the past to balance the distribution of the products in the country”, he added.
He further explained that the economy is road-driven and tampering with the bridging scheme will further divide the country and bring more hardship to the citizenry.
