Many filling stations in Aba, a key commercial hub in Abia State, have ceased operations due to the soaring costs of acquiring petroleum products from third-party suppliers rather than the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Reports indicate that several stations in Aba are selling petrol at prices ranging from N1300 to N1350 per liter, having purchased these products at prices significantly above the NNPC’s regulated rates.
In an interview The PUNCH, the Executive Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria for the Aba branch, Mazi Oliver Okolo, revealed that the NNPC had not supplied petroleum products to their members for the past three months.
Okolo pointed out that the NNPC has been distributing products to select suppliers who, in turn, sell them to IPMAN members at inflated prices.
“Our members now lift petrol at high costs and sell to motorists and other users at high cost,” Okolo said, emphasizing that the situation would improve if the country’s refineries were operational, allowing for more affordable petrol prices.
In response, a member of the National Executive of IPMAN, Chief Godfrey Chukwunyere, criticized the NNPC for selling petrol at varying high rates to mega stations, major marketers, and independent marketers.
He pointed out issues with the inexperienced personnel managing the corporation’s affairs.
Chukwunyere called for a comprehensive overhaul of the petroleum sector and urged the federal government to compel the NNPC to standardize petrol prices, which would ease the burden on consumers and stabilize the market.