Investigation revealed that apart from major marketers that sell a litre of petrol for N87 in Ilorin and other suburb areas, virtually all the independent marketers dispense at prices ranging from N95 and above.Though, the product is not adequately available at stations where it was being sold at the government’s approved price.

Investigations in Ilorin have revealed that despite pressure mounted on fuel marketers by the DPR to dispense fuel at the official price, the marketers had refused to yield.Angered by the refusal, the department dispatched its task force to petrol stations to embark on the fact-finding in ascertaining defaulters.

Apart from compliance with the directive of N87 per litre, the team also inspected the facilities of the stations to ensure that buyers were not ignorantly cheated by the unscrupulous marketers. However, fuel marketers especially those under the banner of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) vowed that the price of a litre of petrol would remain N100 as long they lift fuel at private depots.

The reason, they advanced, was that the price they procured the commodity at private depots was beyond the official price of N87 per litre, and consequently it would be foolhardy to sell at the government directed price. A member of the association in Ilorin, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said IPMAN was aware of the move by the DPR to force marketers to dispense fuel at N87 per litre, but the present predicament would not allow them to yield.

He said if the clampdown on members continued, they might be forced to stop selling the commodity. He noted that marketers were not out to inflict pains on the masses as they were doing all possible to bring the price down. A fuel dealer, Alhaji Abdulkareem Kunle Sanni, told City Rove that marketers were unhappy with the sale of petrol above N87 per litre but the reality of the moment forced them to do so.

He said the demand for the product was higher than supply, which partly was responsible for the increment.Sanni disclosed that fuel marketers have not been loading the commodity at Oke-Oyi depot for the past six months with no respite yet, and attributed the development to the activities of vandals which resulted in the stoppage of pumping of petrol to the depot from Ibadan. “It is unreasonable for us to sell at N87 per litre (petrol). We buy at exorbitant price at private depots in Lagos, and you don’t expect us to do business without making profit.