12 November 2012, Lagos – The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) has canvassed for increased utilisation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), popularly called cooking gas as household fuel, stressing that other countries of the world had diversified from kerosene to gas.
Speaking when he inaugurated the sale of kerosene at the subsidised price of N50 per litre in Lagos at the weekend, the National President of IPMAN, Alhaji Abdulkadir Aminu stated that the association had already ventured into gas utilisation, and called on Nigerians to switch over from kerosene to gas, which according to him, is the future of the world.
“I want to assure Nigerians that a lot has been done by government to ensure that gas has come to stay. If you go to Benin, we have Compressed Natural Gas (CNG); in Lagos NIPCO has 5,000 metric tonnes of LPG. It is possible and true that kerosene can be sold at N50 per litre in this country. NNPC has been trying and we need more from the NNPC. In as much as the product is available, IPMAN is ready to sell at N50. We are trying to create awareness between the people and the essence of gas usage, advantages, and prices. But it is an issue that has to go on gradually but for the meantime, we have to give succour to the people, which is what we are doing now,” he said.
IPMAN at the weekend sold kerosene at N 50 per litre in some designated filling stations in Lagos.
Aminu said IPMAN members had been mandated to ensure the sale of the products at the regulated price of N 50 per litre as directed by the Federal Government.
According to him, the sale of kerosene to the common people at the approved government price of N50 has been one of the projects of IPMAN in conjunction with the Pipelines Products and Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“The association has been at the vanguard of ensuring that the product that is meant for the local people is sold at approved price. This has also been the focus of the Minister of Petroleum. Today, we are grateful to God that we have seen it happening. I want to assure every Nigerian that it is going to be sustained,” Aminu said.
He said the sale of kerosene at N50 would be launched in other states of the country, adding that any IPMAN member found selling above the regulated price would be sanctioned.
“From here, we are going to Kano, Sokoto, Enugu, Jos, Yola, Maiduguri and other states. This is the first time I am coming to visit our retail outlet and I can assure that the exercise is going to be continuous. The chairman of South West zone has been directed to go to other states within the southern states to launch the products,” he added. Aminu said the monitoring team would be inaugurated to ensure conformity in all the IPMAN outlets nationwide.
– This Day