As he scarcity of fuel spread across the country, the National Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), James Tor, yesterday blamed the Israel-Iran crisis for the shortfall in supply of the product to consumers.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE TV, Tor said that the current geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, particularly the Israel-Iran confrontation, had compounded existing challenges, leading to a bottleneck in the supply chain.
He, however, said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had increased efforts to alleviate the situation by opening up depots to ensure a steady supply of products. He said, “The people that bring in the petroleum products into the country is the federal government. And when they bring in these products, they give us the stakeholders (which the IPMAN is one of) for distribution. So it’s what we get that we can give out. If there are no products, then we can’t give out anything.
“But the federal government is doing much. Because even on Monday, my National President was explaining that the NNPC had opened up some of their depots so we can have enough products supplied and distributed to the public. The president of IPMAN called me earlier and informed me on the increase in supply. So what we are witnessing is just a breach of what is going on.
“And what is going on? You see, the crises that are going on in the Middle East. The crisis between Israel and Iran is also affecting the distribution of fuel. All these things if you put them together, affect supply and distribution of petroleum products.”