The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria,(IPMAN) Abia State Chapter, has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), to ensure that petroleum products are supplied to NNPC Depot, in Osisioma, Aba to forestall scarcity during the yuletide season.
During a peaceful protest that took the members of the Association to the premises of the Depot,the Chairman, Prince Bobby Dick said if urgent action is not taken, there will be scarcity of petroleum products in the South East Zone during the Christmas season.
While observing that the NNPC Depot Osisioma Aba is the only functional Depot serving the whole of the South East region,Dick said that for the past two years,both DPK (Kero) and AGO (disel) have not been pumped adding that PMS (Fuel) has equally not been pumped in the Depot for the past five years.
“The implication of the above is that if urgent measure is not made to pump Petroleum Products to Aba Depot,there will be acute shortage and scarcity of petroleum products at a high cost with this festive season”.
The Chairman who alleged that Petroleum Products meant for Aba Depot is being diverted to private tankfarms,said their investigation showed that some cabals in the Pipeline and Product Marketng Company,(PPMC) and Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC) have politicized pumping Petroleum Products to the Depot.
Dick, said that petroleum products are currently sourced from other Depots across the country on bad roads resulting to constant colossal loss of lives and properties.
He therefore solicited the federal government to mandate PPMC and the NPSC to continuously pump the three products and also “ensure that all logistics and the pipeline are safe and secured at all times.
“NNPC Depot at Aba is the major federal government presence in Abia State that helps to sustain the socio economic activities in the state,we must not allow it to die”,he pleaded.
The Osisioma Depot Manager, Ocheni Samuel who received the protest letter from the Association, promised to make their demands known to the NNPC headquarters.
Currently, over fifty tankers are packed along the Osisioma NNPC Depot road, with the hope of getting petroleum products.
