Tension is mounting in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector after the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) issued a stark warning that filling stations across the country could grind to a halt if the Federal Government proceeds with any move to impose price control on fuel sales.

IPMAN’s spokesperson, Chinedu Ukadike, who addressed journalists on the matter, argued that the petroleum market had been fully deregulated under the Petroleum Industry Act and therefore cannot be subjected to government-dictated pricing, describing any such attempt as a contradiction of the legal framework already in place.

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The threat comes on the heels of growing pressure from government agencies on petroleum marketers over fuel pricing. The Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, had recently called on the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to crack down on what he described as exploitation of consumers by marketers. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) had equally put marketers on notice, warning that it would not hesitate to sanction operators engaging in exploitative pricing practices.

The government’s intervention was triggered in part by a decline in global crude oil prices, with Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate trading around $72 and $69 per barrel respectively — a drop linked to the easing of tensions surrounding the Iran, United States and Israel conflict. Despite that decline and recent price reductions by the Dangote Refinery and a number of filling stations, pump prices have remained stubbornly high across much of Nigeria. In Abuja, motorists are currently paying between ₦1,210 and ₦1,300 per litre at several stations.

Ukadike said the recent wave of price reductions had already inflicted severe financial damage on marketers, revealing that many operators had absorbed losses running into billions of naira after being forced to offload products at prices lower than their purchase cost in order to stay competitive.

“Capital is hard to gather. There is no buffer area for marketers. Most of us are losing ₦10 to ₦15 billion due to the recent fuel price reduction. You buy at a particular price before you get to your station; the price had further reduced. We sell at a loss to be competitive. If you don’t sell at a competitive price, nobody will buy,” he said.

On the possibility of government-enforced pricing, Ukadike was unequivocal — marketers would shut their gates nationwide if it came to that.

“Marketers will shut down if they try somehow to enforce price control. We are going to shut down our stations nationwide. You can’t be regulating a deregulated market. You can’t tell me how much to sell my product without trying to know how much I bought it. You can’t be blowing hot and cold at the same time. The Petroleum Industry Act must be followed to the letter. If they try to enforce price control, we will shut down,” he warned.

The standoff puts the Federal Government in a difficult position — caught between the need to protect millions of consumers from high fuel costs and the competing demands of a deregulated market whose operators say they are already bleeding financially. With no resolution in sight, Nigerians may find themselves at the centre of another fuel crisis if both sides fail to reach a workable middle ground.