The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has asked the public to disregard news of an increase in the price of petrol.
The Chairman of IPMAN, Enugu Depot, Mr Chinedu Anyaso, who gave the warning in Awka, Anambra state, at the weekend, while speaking with reporters, said the rumours of an impending increase in the price of petrol are nothing but social media stories.
He added that the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which is the sole importer of petrol, has not informed them of any plan to increase petrol price, hence the public should disregard the rumours and stop engaging in panic buying.
Anyaso further assured that contrary to certain reports, there are no plans to increase the price of petrol in the country at the moment, adding that “the panic may have arisen from a calculation of the downward trend of naira in exchange with the dollar.”
“If there is any refined product, we will know because we are the middlemen that buy and sell to end users.
” I strongly believe that the Dangote refinery with its capacity of 650, 000 barrels per day will help to bring down the price of fuel in the country. There is no need for panic buying as there is enough product being made available to marketers at different depots by the NNPCL. Let Nigerians ignore the speculations and avoid panic buying,” he said.
The IPMAN boss further expressed optimism that the expected coming upstream of the Port Harcourt refinery and the Dangote refinery should drive down the price of petrol in the country.
