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The current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has received praise from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for authorizing the importation of petroleum products by private businesses.
This was said by Mr. Chinedu Anyaso, the chairman of the IPMAN Enugu Depot Community and the state representative for Anambra, Ebonyi, and Enugu on Sunday in response to the situation in Awka.
Recall that on Friday, Farouk Ahmed, the managing director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said that private marketers could now import petrol into the nation.
According to Farouk, the NNPCL is no longer Nigeria's sole importer of petrol under the new agreement.
"We set the rules in place, ensure that quality control is followed, confirm that the product is present, and grant license to any potential importer.
"Anyone who wants to import can do so as long as they meet all the standards; the market is now open. For petrol, the NMDPRA will no longer set pricing or publish templates.
"In a deregulated market, the market forces determine the price," he claimed. "As far as we are concerned in the NMDPRA, this is not like before when the PPPRA fixes the price."
Anyaso argued that this was a good move and a fitting answer to the demands of marketers and the Nigerian people, who had long criticized NNPCL's monopolistic control over the oil and gas industry.
According to him, doing so would foster the much-needed climate for competitive pricing and enable market forces to establish product prices.
He claims that "two days ago, I repeated the need for the Federal Government to grant import licenses to private investigators, and I also argued that it is improper for the NNPCL, a private corporation, to be the exclusive importer and price setter.
"I am pleased that the same NMDPRA also declared that private importers have received approval. This is how a deregulated industry ought to operate.
"The agony of high product prices will undoubtedly be lessened by the competition that will start in the next few days," he claimed.
