The Association warned Nigerians from buying in a panic and assured them that its members will sell PMS at the N165 per litre set by the government.
Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, president of the association, remarked at a press conference on Wednesday against the backdrop of prior claims by oil merchants that the N165 per liter pump price was no longer sustainable.
In particular, he encouraged IPMAN members in Lagos, where Mr. Akeem Balogun, the association secretary, on Monday announced a PMS pump price of N180 per litre, to preserve the "status quo" at N165 per litre.
He said that there was no need for panic buying because the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and the Petroleum Products Marketers Company (PPMC) had released petroleum products from their tank farms that could support the country for the next 32 days.
The NNPC and PPMC responded favorably by releasing supplies from their tank farms that can meet the country's demands for 32 days, he said, thus the status quo ante must be maintained going ahead.
The President stated: "The decision was taken because its members could no longer function at a loss. That is why the IPMAN Secretary in Lagos arrived at N180 per litre on Monday.
“While the government had fixed N165 per litre as the pump price of petrol, the current realities in the market showed that the minimum the product should be retailed at the stations should be N180.
“I told you the cost of doing business has changed and my members in Lagos before they did what they did, they called me and told me that they are now getting this product at N162 to N165 per litre with transportation another N8, aggregating to about N170 to N173, even the N10 which is supposed to be our gain has been eroded, what do we do?
“Now you know and I know that it is only NNPC that imports this product into Nigeria. Some of these tank farm owners who have gone to collect this product, don’t blame them because the cost of doing business has also changed.
“It became so difficult for them to sell at N148.17, but yesterday I want to tell you that NNPC and PPMC went to their tank farms and released products.”
“That is why we are thanking them that with this product, we can now access the product at N148.17″, he said.
