NNPC Faults IPMAN on Claim of non-Allocation of Kerosene

The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC on Thursday faulted the reported claim by the President of a faction of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN Alhaji Abdulkadir Aminu in which he accused the Corporation of disproportionate allocation of kerosene in favour of Major Marketers. While claiming non allocation of kerosene to its members by the NNPC the factional President of IPMAN reportedly accused the Corporation of deliberate bias against its members.    

But in a swift reaction which was conveyed in a statement issued by the Group General Manager Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajuopnuma, the Corporation punctured the claim stating that as at the last count, IPMAN members have received a haul of over 116million litres of kerosene.  

It may interest Alhaji Abdulkadir and the public to note that between January and June, 2011, through coastal lifting, NIPCO, the commercial trading arm of IPMAN   received a total of 116,015,900 million litres of House Hold Kerosene, HHK through their facility in Lagos alone,'' Dr. Ajuonuma stated.  

Providing more graphic details to puncture IPMAN's claim of disproportionate allocation of kerosene against its members, the NNPC stated that between the 9th and 25th of May, IPMAN loaded 196 trucks of HHK, while MOMAN loaded 115 trucks. Similarly the sharing ratio between IPMAN and MOMAN for the average 5.2 million litres of HHK produced by the four refineries of the Corporation is 60:40.  

Dr. Ajuonuma noted that in the days ahead it may be necessary to publish details of daily load-outs by IPMAN at the Corporation's facilities to ensure further clarifications.  

He informed that the daily average national consumption requirement of HHK is 8 million litres, but the Corporation has consistently surpassed this requirement by flooding the market with Kerosene on a daily basis.  

Currently, we have 54.26 days sufficiency. In January, we surpassed the national requirement by over 4 million and last month we surpassed the figure again by over 2 million litres. The facts stated above are easily verifiable,'' Dr. Ajuonuma stated.  

While imploring all stakeholders to join forces with the Corporation in its drive to restore sanity in the distribution of kerosene, the NNPC spokesman called on all marketers to shun sharp practices that have continued to plaque their operations.  

We want to believe that Alhaji Abdulkadir is aware of the enormity of his claim and the facts at our disposal. At this period when all efforts are geared towards creating an environment conducive for doing business, we implore all stakeholders to avoid comments and actions capable of jeopardizing the collective interest of Nigerians,'' he stated.