The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has told the Federal Government to stop issuing licences to companies to import petroleum products.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Ukadike, told newsmen in Abuja on Sunday that the new licences are causing unstable fuel prices and putting more pressure on the naira.
He hinted that marketers reviewed recent developments in the downstream sector, including price volatility, the import licence regime, and the sale of petroleum products in dollars. He concluded that issuing more import licences is not in the best interest of Nigerians.
He advised the Federal Government to work with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to review the decision transparently.
He lamented that the issuing of licences for the importation of petroleum products which is designed to serve as a check on the prices of domestically refined petroleum products, is not achieving the results expected by independent marketers.
According to him, landing price of petrol is N1,350 or about 20 per cent higher than the price being sold by Dangote Refinery, which he argued makes the importation of the product counterproductive.
He maintained that importing petroleum products at a higher cost than locally available products does not make economic sense.
Ukadike tied the granting of licences for the importation of petroleum products to recent pressure on the naira which has led to the depreciation in the exchange rate of the currency to N1,400 to the dollar, which he said, in turn, was affecting the pump price of petroleum products across the country.
He noted that the one major gain Nigeria has recorded from local refining is a continuous, uninterrupted supply of petroleum products, something the country struggled with in the past when it depended heavily on imports.
“If we have a continuous, uninterrupted supply, our problem is pricing. Is it not better to sit down and see how this issue can be controlled than to sign unnecessary import licences that will further inflate the price of petroleum products in our country?” he asked.
Ukadike advocated the need for stronger support for local refining capacity, including government-owned refineries alongside Dangote Refinery, describing this as necessary for the country’s energy security. He said Nigeria should prioritise its own refining capacity rather than depend on imports.
He said that since the Dangote Refinery came on stream, scarcity of petroleum products which was a perennial problem has become a thing of the past.
He implored the Federal Government to look inward and support the domestic refining of petroleum products to guarantee energy security, ensure sufficient local supply, and generate additional foreign exchange for the country through exports.
