Labour may picket filling stations
over fuel prices
By Yakubu Lawal, Yetunde
Majekodunmi, Sunny Obidigbo and Shola Yusuff (Lagos), Julius
Alabi (Akure) and Aniekan Bassey (Uyo)
L ABOUR is considering
picketing fuel stations to force compliance with last week's
court order that the prices of petroleum products in the
country be reverted to their pre-February levels.
This option follows the apparent refusal of the marketers
to obey the order by Justice Roseline Ukeje of the Federal
High Court, Abuja, which had paved the way for the resolution
of the recent fuel crisis in the country.
The marketers, across the country, have since either shut
their stations or continued to sell at high rates to desperate
buyers.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had in a
letter to the marketers specifically given instructions for
compliance with the order. The letter, a copy of which The
Guardian got yesterday, reads in part: "The management of
(NNPC) has directed that all prices ex-depot be reverted to
old prices of N33.50 for PMS, N32.50 for AGO and N31.50 for
DPK"
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr.
Adams Oshiomhole, had in a recent letter urged the Inspector
General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, to enforce the court
order failing which the workers might explore self help.
NLC's spokesman, Mr Denja Yakub, said yesterday that Labour
might be compelled to picket the petrol stations over their
refusal to revert to the agreed price of N41.00 per litre.
Yakub noted that most stations were not selling although
they had fuel.
He told The Guardian: "When we suspended the strike,
it was on the belief that the marketers had started complying
with the court order to revert prices of petrol to N41.50 per
litre. But recent developments revealed that although most of
these marketers merely changed the prices on their boards,
they are all still dispensing above the recommended price."
The NLC spokesman continued: "Going by this development,
the NLC has little or no option but to start ensuring
compliance by carrying out a picketing action on those erring
marketers."
Some major marketers at the Apapa depot in Lagos, for
instance, refused to lift the products when The
Guardian visited yesterday, while many outlets belonging
to the majors were also not selling to the public.
But lifting began at the NNPC depot in Ejigbo, also in the
state, as early as 8 a.m. Over 80 trucks had loaded by the
time The Guardian visited.
The Secretary of the Independent Marketers Association of
Nigeria IPMAN, Ejigbo branch,
Mr. Toba Shinkaiyi, told The Guardian that fuel lifting
at the depot began since last Saturday.
It was learnt yesterday that the Department of Petroleum
Resources DPR has intensified
efforts to track down those marketers who are yet to fully
comply with the court order.
Informed sources said yesterday that the DPR's monitoring
team had doubled its operational schedule with a view to
sanctioning erring marketers.
But the amount being paid by the marketers to the Petroleum
Equalisation Fund (PEF), which was raised from 80 kobo per
litre to N1 per litre, has not been reversed. This was
disclosed by the secretary of the National Union Of Petroleum
and Natural GAS workers (NUPENG) Ejigbo branch, Mr Samuel
Olagbegi.
At the Apapa depots of the major marketers, Mr. Isaiah
Yusuf, Chairman Petrol Tanker Drivers Association of Total
depot branch of NUPENG, said that the fuel tanker drivers
refused to lift products because the prices had not been
reduced by the marketers especially Total.
"We have stocks at the depot but we are not lifting because
the prices have not come down," Yusuf stated.
In Lagos metropolis, many filling stations still refused to
sell to motorists. For example at the Total station opposite
NNPC depot in Ejigbo, diesel (AGO) was selling for N51 per
litre while PMS (petrol) though not in stock had a price tag
of N42.90 per litre.
At the AP station on Okota road, the attendant said that
they were not selling because their truck was yet to load at
the NNPC depot and that the station had exhausted its stock.
Olagbegi told The Guardian that IPMAN decided to
revert to the old price of N41.50 or N42.80 in line with the
directive of the court order.
The chairman of its Mosimi Branch, Mr Femi George, said
that the union directed its members to revert to old prices to
bring economic activities back on track.
He disclosed that officials of the union would now meet
with the NNPC to resolve the issue of compensation for its
members.
But the Chairman, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory
Agency (PPPRA), Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, yesterday advised
Nigerians not to expect uniform prices for the products.
According to agency reports, Gbadamosi in Abuja said that
since the costs of fuel importation and operation vary among
marketers, they were not likely to adopt the same pump prices
for their products.
He said: "For instance, the cost of import of Conoil
differs from that of African Petroleum and Oando, hence each
marketer has a different pump price." Gbadamosi said pump
price disparity should exist since the downstream oil sector
had been fully deregulated since October last year.
The PPPRA chief added that since the downstream sector was
deregulated marketers could import and sell within N39.50 and
N44.00 bracket."
He described PPPRA as "a prisoner of heritage" whose role
is to ensure reasonable pump prices of petroleum products in a
deregulated regime.
"We have inherited some problems in the downstream
operations that require legislation to get solved," he said.
On the role of Petroleum Equalisation Fund, Gbadamosi said
he could not say what becomes of the body in a deregulated era
until the bill before the National Assembly on the matter was
passed.
Long queues have already returned to filling stations in
Akure, the Ondo State capital, following the hoarding of
petroleum products by marketers.
Investigation by The Guardian yesterday revealed
that the marketers are hoarding the fuel in protest against
the order of the Abuja High Court, which asked them to reverse
to N38 per litre.
Some of them argued that it was better for them to hoard
the products than to sell at a loss, asking: "Can they expect
us to reverse it immediately without giving us some time to
finish selling the products we purchased at higher prices
- "
It was learnt that a few of them who are selling fuel are
facing a lot of difficulties due to long queues of vehicles
and jerry cans.
The Guardian gathered that petrol, where it is
available, is sold for between N44.50 and N51.50 per litre.
One of the marketers said: "We will not sell our own fuel
until motorists and cyclists are ready to buy it at the
amount, which will profit us.
"We are watching them, let them go and buy at the place
where they are selling at N44.50, when that gets finished,
they will be forced to buy from us."
Meanwhile, the state deputy governor, Chief Omolade
Oluwateru, has appealed to the people to be patient with the
marketers to adjust their pumps to reflect the new prices.
He added that some of them would not like to sell at a
price that will not benefit them, the change of the pump
price will be gradual.
Also, in Akwa Ibom State, the petroleum products
marketers are yet to revert to the pre-strike prices.
Some major outlets in the state, especially Uyo, the
capital, are selling petrol for between N55 and N60 per
litre while kerosene could not be found at the various
filling stations except in the black markets on the streets.
Some motorists who spoke to The Guardian said
though fuel was available in the state and even during the
strike, prices had been on the high side despite a court
order that petrol be sold at N38 per litre.
The motorists accused DPR and the Weights and Measurement
Agencies of complacency in their duties with regard to sale
of the petroleum products in the state over the years.
Already, the state's chapter of the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC) has decried the refusal of marketers to
revert.`
