By Kayode Adeoti
The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Kwara State branch, Alhaji Olanrewaju Okanlawon has said that there is no end in sight to the prevailing fuel scarcity in the country.
He disclosed this on Monday while speaking to Pilot Business in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital even as he added that lack of political will by the Federal Government to do the needful has exacerbated the fuel situation.
Okanlawon, who said the long queues at filling stations would persist for a long time to come, suggested that government should explore the options of deregulation in the sector or subsidy, as lasting solution to incessant fuel scarcity in Nigeria.
“The problem has been escalated by the lack of political will to do the right thing by the government. The best way out is deregulation. We have to choose between deregulation and subsidy. I don’t see any end to the scarcity of fuel soon. To be honest, government is trying, it is putting up the best efforts but, the best is not enough.
“The present government is disciplined, as it doesn’t want to approach the issue the way the past administration did it, in which a lot portfolio marketers were claiming subsidy. Now it is only the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) that is entitled to subsidy. We believe government is working on the situation and it will subside with time,” he explained.
Okanlawon, however, submitted that the situation in Kwara State is worse because only NNPC supplies the product to the state, adding that it is only when private companies are allowed to supply petroleum that there would be enough to go round.
He, however, explained that motorists would have to contend with higher pump price if private companies deliver the product to marketers at N165 per litre.
He further explained that when there is deregulation in the sector the price of the product would crash.
“It is very simple, when demand and supply determine forces in the market, the price will crash because it will make the filling stations to sell at any price.”
The IPMAN boss also noted that panic buying by members of the public has made the situation worse.
