Petroleum marketers have raised concerns that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has shut down its portal used for the purchase of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), making it impossible for dealers to apply for petrol.
This was revealed in a statement by the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, on Wednesday.
According to Ukadike, marketers have over 2,000 pending requests for 45,000 liters of petrol each, and this disruption could potentially lead to fuel shortages across the country.
“I can’t confirm the current price because the portal is still shut down. We have over 2,000 tickets for 45,000 liters each.
That’s 45,000 multiplied by 2,000, which gives you an idea of the millions of liters involved. This is just an estimate, as I don’t have access to NNPCL’s system,” Ukadike explained.
He also noted that a 45,000-liter truckload of PMS currently costs around N39.5 million, amounting to approximately N79 billion when multiplied by 2,000.
Responding to the issue, NNPCL spokesperson Olufemi Soneye acknowledged the backlog, explaining that the portal’s closure was to avoid holding marketers’ funds for an extended period. He assured that the portal would be reopened soon, though he did not specify a date.
“We have a significant backlog to manage, and the closure is intended to prevent us from holding marketers’ funds for too long. It will be reopened once the backlog is sufficiently reduced, and we are working to resolve this as soon as possible,” Soneye stated.
This development comes as Nigerians continue to face high energy costs. In September 2024, NNPCL announced a new price increase for petrol after sourcing the product from the Dangote Refinery. Currently, Nigerians pay between N950 and N1,100 per liter of petrol across the country.
