The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has commended the Federal Government for the launch of the automation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the automation process was introduced to put to rest the spate of claims and counterclaims about the volume of products imported, consumed and smuggled in an open and transparent manner.
In a statement signed by the Kano unit chairman of IPMAN, by Bashir Dan-Mallam, on Sunday particularly commended Timipre Silva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, for inaugurating the interagency committee and the subsequent launch of the financial monitoring center in Lagos.
Mr Dan-Mallam expressed hope that with the inauguration of the committee, the marketers’ claims, and allowances would be freed and payment process fast-tracked.
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He, however, called on the minister and heads of related-agencies like the NNPC, PEFMB, PPPRA, and DPR to “as a matter of urgency expand the committee to include representatives of marketers with due regard to the stakeholders in the downstream sector, most especially the distribution arm of the petroleum product which IPMAN constitutes 80 percent.”
“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari is a people-oriented government that is rooted in its closeness to the grassroots just as IPMAN is investing in the grassroots, making it an ideal partner in piloting the automation process,” Mr Dan-Mallam said.
The IPMAN chair recalled that in August last year, the federal government had approved the fuel tracking technology for Petroleum Equalisation Fund, PEF, geared towards harmonizing fuel consumption figures, eliminating opaqueness and bringing efficiency and transparency in supply and distribution of petroleum products in Nigeria.
