The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has insisted that it is opposed to the removal of subsidy on petrol with the country refining the product locally.
IPMAN explained that with the government importing all premium motor spirit, petrol, consumed in the country, removing the over N3.5 trillion subsidy would expose Nigerians to arbitrary pricing.
The IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Chief Chinedu Ukadike in a statement on Sunday, April 2, insisted there has to be local refining before the subsidy could be removed.
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Chief Ukadike said refining in-country should be the government’s priority, stressing that any decision on petrol subsidy removal should be left to the incoming administration.
According to him, “IPMAN is in support that the outgoing administration of President Muhammadu Buhari should not go into the removal of the subsidy as factors that would necessitate the removal of subsidy have not been put in place by the government.
“IPMAN also supports the position of PENGASSAN that our refineries should work and that our pipelines should be repaired in order to move petroleum products out of the coastal areas to the dry land closer to marketers that allow them to load petroleum products as quickly as possible without having to move long distance.
“These are the factors that aid the movement to subsidy regime removal and if these factors are not in place, we will be able to curb petrol importation and guard against exorbitant pricing”.
Chief Ukadike noted that any attempt to remove the subsidy by President Buhari would create hardship for the people and challenges for the incoming administration.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, had last week advised the incoming administration to, as a matter of urgency, remove fuel subsidies as part of efforts to facilitate the growth of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
