The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria on Friday appealed to the Federal Government to save oil marketers from bearing the burden of the deregulation of the oil sector.
The IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Alhaji Yakubu Suleman, made the appeal in a statement in Abuja.
Suleiman said despite the fact that the marketers had been very cooperative with government to see to the implementation of the deregulation policy, government had failed to carry them along during all the products price adjustments made in the last two years.
He said: “We were all shocked when the new adjustments came out yesterday and there was no consideration to mark up our own profit margin to also accommodate the realities we experience at our own retail outlets.
“As responsible citizens, we have been at the forefront of explaining the benefits of a fully deregulated oil sector to the general public.
“But the reality is that for the last two years, none of all of the price adjustments considered the need to mark up our profit margin.”
Suleiman hinted that fresh strategy towards arriving at a workable means by which the government would factor in an upward review of the profit margin of the marketers was the major agenda of the executive committee of the independent marketers at an emergency meeting held on Friday in Abuja.
According to him, the meeting was convened to react to the new petroleum price adjustment that was approved by the Petroleum Products Marketing Company.
Oil marketers across the country were directed to sell premium motor spirit between N168 and N170 per litre.
