Marketers of petroleum products have expressed strong opposition to the Federal Government’s selective lifting of restrictions on fuel sales in border communities, contending that such actions foster anti-competitive practices, encourage profiteering, and create monopolistic advantages.
It will be recalled that in 2019, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari imposed a blanket ban on the supply of petroleum products to filling stations located within a 20-kilometre radius of the nation’s borders with neighbouring countries.
As a direct consequence of this policy, more than 400 filling stations owned by independent marketers have remained inoperative, notwithstanding the substantial capital investments made in those facilities.
Recent developments, however, indicate that the Federal Government has granted waivers to select filling stations within certain local government areas, thereby authorising them to recommence the retail sale of petrol — a move perceived by industry stakeholders as arbitrary and lacking transparency.
In a formal statement, the Honourable Gboyega Isiaka, representative of Yewa North and Imeko/Afon Federal Constituency, Ogun State, commended President Bola Tinubu for his decision to ease longstanding restrictions on the sale and distribution of petroleum products within communities situated within a 20-kilometre radius of the Republic of Benin border.
The lawmaker noted that while the policy revision currently permits only five filling stations to resume operations across four border towns—namely Imeko, Ilara, Oja Odan, and Ihunbe—the President’s intervention nonetheless represents a significant act of executive benevolence and has provided substantial relief to the affected residents of his constituency.
Conversely, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has condemned the original restriction, asserting that the prohibition on the supply of essential energy resources to Nigerian citizens, solely on the basis of their geographic location near international borders, constitutes an unlawful and discriminatory act. IPMAN maintains that such measures lack constitutional justification and undermine the principle of equitable access to public utilities and commercial opportunities.
In a pointed rebuttal, the spokesman for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Chinedu Ukadike, contended that the ongoing restriction on fuel supply to border communities contravenes the express provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which mandates the equitable distribution of petroleum products to all Nigerian citizens, irrespective of geographic location.
Mr. Ukadike described the restriction as a direct violation of the licences issued by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), under which marketers are legally authorised to operate. He emphasised that the affected filling stations, constructed at great financial cost—amounting to billions of naira—are situated in communities inhabited by Nigerians, whose constitutional and statutory rights are being arbitrarily denied.
He further argued that residency in a border area does not, and should not, constitute lawful grounds for exclusion from national supply chains. Rather than imposing sweeping and punitive restrictions, the proper course of action, according to Ukadike, is the strengthening of border security mechanisms to curb illicit smuggling while ensuring that both border and inland communities enjoy unfettered and lawful access to petroleum products.#newsafro_
