The Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP), and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) are synergising to boost the distribution and availability of petroleum products in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the synergy became imperative in view of the incessant fuel crises being witnessed in the country.

The two associations on Wednesday in Abuja at a joint news conference highlighted the new objectives under the synergy to serve Nigerians better.

Alhaji Lawan Dan-Zaki, the President of ADITOP while briefing newsmen, said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC) had a lot of products at the depots but the main problem was how to transport the products around the nation.

Dan-Zaki said the new collaboration would ensure that issues bordering on distribution and availability of products, scarcity and unnecessary strikes were addressed properly in the oil and gas industry.

“Transportation in business is very vital because IPMAN owns the fuel stations while ADITOP owns the trucks, so the synergy will help in conveying all the products to their various stations.

“The queues you witness in the country will finally subside, we will give the NNPC all the support to ease the distribution of petroleum products,” he said.

He expressed gratitude to the NNPC management for its partnership with the Ministry of Works and Housing on the rehabilitation of some major roads in the country to ease the transportation of petroleum products.

In his address, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, the President, of IPMAN said the collaboration was aimed at having hitch-free flow and distribution of petroleum products because the oil and gas sector remained the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.

According to him, the investment portfolio of IPMAN and ADITOP is running in trillions while the tankers and major stations being seen are combined efforts of the two associations.

He said over time, the sector had not been able to have this kind of synergy or a clear cut organisation majorly involved in oil and gas like ADITOP.

According to him, this has a huge investment in transportation as its facilities must be utilised to enhance the sector.

He said the collaboration would bring a new horizon to the industry to project members’ welfare and eliminate incessant strikes in the system.

Okoronkwo lauded the assistance being rendered by the associations’ Consultant and Chairman of Benham Group, Dr Maurice Ibe, adding that the new management of the associations would foster a lot of values in the sector.

Ibe decried the worst hardship experienced in the petroleum sector in the past couple of weeks due to a gap within the distribution chain.

“The products are not getting to Nigerians because the owners of the tankers seem to have lost control of the vehicles and equipment to those who drive the trucks.

“While the products are being diverted to neighbouring countries, thereby, short-changing Nigerians.

“People literally hijacked the transportation of petroleum resources in the country,” he said.

Ibe said it was on this note that it felt the necessity to bring the marketers who owned the fuel stations and distributors of the products to form a synergy.

The synergy he said would alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians by ensuring that products reach every nook and cranny.

“We can’t do this without having the principle stakeholders who control 80 per cent of the downstream sector in Nigeria together, we want to ensure that their activities yield dividends,” he said.

He expressed displeasure over issues of bunkering, heavy taxation, bad roads and banditry, adding that there was a need to address them.

According to him, the associations intend to aggressively engage with all agencies of government to make the roads motorable, safer and plyable for members.