With Matthew Denis
The Kwara state Branch of Independent Petrol Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has kept mum on signing into law the proliferation bill on citing of illegal filing stations in the state.
It would be recalled that the legislative arm of government, under the leadership of the Speaker of Kwara House of Assembly, Dr. Ali Ahmad had on August, 2015, inaugurated an Ad- hoc Committee on Proliferation of Petrol Stations in which 6 Filling Stations where ordered to be demolished, while another set of Petrol Stations, were recommended for various sanctions.
Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, last week signed the State Urban and Regional Planning Bill 2017 into Law regarding the proliferation of filling stations.
The Kwara state IPMAN Chairman, Alhaji Olanrewaju Okanlawon speaking to Pilot Business on Thursday stressed that the union will comment at the appropriate time as they are not aware of the law for now.
On the prevailing fuel scarcity, he suggested that the only solution to the issue in Nigeria is deregulation of the oil sector.
He said, “If we have to be realistic in this country, the major solution to fuel crisis is deregulation of the oil sector. Without deregulation it implies that the government has to continue to subsidise the products for marketers.
“Because as the prices of crude oil continues to rise internationally, the local price too will be affected since we are not producing enough fuel in the country but depends on importation.
According to him, marketers are out to make profit therefore can’t sell for a loss so the Federal Government should allow each marketer to decides the price of his product.
He said “another issue is for our refinery to be working effectively to have enough fuel in the country as to discourage importation.
“Thank God the Dangote refineries will come up very soon and this will surely bring a relief in the oil sector.
Okanlawon argued that the Federal Government will not like to buy the idea of deregulation of the oil sector because of their political interest but it remains the best solution now.
On the fuel scarcity situation within Ilorin and environment, considering the fact Ibadan Depot have started loading he stressed that it’s an added advantage as things are getting better.
He said “the Ibadan depot loading is a good development but the situation is on and off. Sometimes, they will give us products and other days no products.
