Edo State Commissioner for Mining and Energy Ethan Uzamere has said officials of the ministry are neither scared nor being intimidated by owners of filling stations.
He said the ministry officials were monitoring the supply and sale of petroleum products, to prevent hoarding or hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS/petrol).
Uzamere spoke yesterday in Benin at an interactive session with reporters.
He said: “Petroleum products are on the exclusive legislative list of the Federal Government. As a state, what we are doing is to help the marketers in Edo to get more petroleum products to be available for the residents.
“The Ministry of Mining and Energy has been monitoring the situation. We have a team that monitors the sale of petroleum products. We also assist the filling stations with security, as many marketers complain of not feeling secured while selling petroleum products at their filling stations.”
“Systematic solution must be taken to resolve issues. What we are doing is to monitor the supply chain of petroleum products and the filling stations for the sale of the products. The right to monitor petroleum products is on the Federal Government’s agencies. As a state, we are partnering Federal Government agencies to check the situation.”
Edo Chairman of Major Marketers Dealers Association, Tony Aghedo, described as most unfortunate what residents were going through.
He said: “In my over 25 years of being a dealer, I have never had it so rough like this that we had in the last two weeks. We have never had fuel (petrol) sold in Edo State for N500 or N600 a litre.”
The Chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Edo chapter, Alhaji Abdulhamid Babasaliu, said the petroleum products being supplied to the state were not enough.
He said: “As at today, only the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) imports products. What NNPCL is importing is not enough to go round. They promised to deregulate, for the products to be surplus. The same way diesel, kerosine, cooking gas and lubricants have been deregulated.
“Petroleum products are no longer allocated to states. The new system is with NNPCL‘s portal and you can apply as many times as possible. NNPCL will approve, you will make payment, and when the product is available, you will load. The latest policy by NNPCL is that any product approved, within 21 days, you will get it, but it has not started.”
“The scarcity is not peculiar to Edo State. It is all over the country. The solution is deregulation. The modular refineries that President Muhammadu Buhari approved, most of them are producing, but they cannot produce PMS (petrol), because there is a ceiling that they can sell. The market should be allowed to determine the price.