The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has debunked claims that oil marketers do divert petroleum products to neighbouring countries.
Speaking on Thursday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Chief Obasi Lawson, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has debunked claims that oil marketers do divert petroleum products to neighbouring countries.
This disclosure was in reaction to the recent assertion by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who accused the marketers of diverting fuel to neighbouring countries like Chad and Cameroon.
While dismissing the allegation, Lawson wondered why the Nigeria Customs Service cannot apprehend the perpetrators. "We met with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources two weeks ago, in connection with fuel scarcity in Nigeria. We made all necessary arrangements to alleviate fuel scarcity in Nigeria.
"The minister also stated that the fuel scarcity will be over very soon. By the grace of God, fuel scarcity has started to go down drastically. The price of petrol is going back to its normal position of N86.50 per litre.
"We are not diverting fuel to neighbouring countries and should some marketers be doing it, why is the Nigerian Custom Services not apprehending them at the borders," he queried.