Oscarline Onwuemenyi
28 December 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) on Thursday said its members paid over N90bn for petrol supply but had yet to receive any cargo from the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
DAPPMA insisted that the national oil company lied when it said its members owe the oil firm N26.7bn.
Recall that the oil marketers had blamed NNPC for the fuel scarcity in the country.
In its response, NNPC had claimed that the marketers were hoarding the products, stating that DAPPMA members are owing N26.7bn.
But, in a statement issued by Executive Secretary for DAPPMA, Mr. Olufemi Adewole on Thursday, the association said, “It is an undisputable fact that DAPPMA members have paid for petrol supply (with bank funds) for over one month, the value of which is in excess of N90bn, yet PPMC/NNPC had no cargo to allocate to them.
“As such, how can we be held responsible for hoarding? PPMC/NNPC does not transact business with DAPPMA members on credit, hence we are not aware of any indebtedness to PPMC/NNPC by our members.
“We again reject any attempt to blame marketers for the shortfall in supply, as it is not our making since NNPC has been the sole importer since October 2017.”
