 The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Ipman, has urged President Bola Tinuble to declare a state of emergency on the country's refineries. Ipman Chairman in Brever State Dr. Joseph O'Beller made a call against the backdrop of the hike of the pump price of petrol. The pump price of fuel on Tuesday skyrocketed to 612 naira per litre. However, O'Beller said the exitable price increased from 487.7 per litre to 567.7 per litre. A statement by O'Beller said it is going to bring hardship to the citizens and marketers who need to source for additional trading capital in order to remain in the business. He added that the solution is fixed in Nigeria's refineries, noting that the President should declare a state of emergency on refineries. Nigerian Senate has called on the Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to immediately suspend World Bank-funded NMMP phase two in order to undertake a comprehensive review of the procurement criteria to prioritize local manufacturing and assembling. The Senate also mandated TCN and NERC to look towards the Central Bank of Nigerian Intervention Funds or engage the African Export Import Bank. This followed a motion sponsored by Senator Victor Ume and Umbra Central on the urgent need to protect local meta-manufacturers in the ongoing national mass metering program of the federal government. Ume had said that the duty of industry procurement regulators in every developing economy, first and foremost, is to protect its local manufacturers and would only try to augment importation of goods and services where there is a clear cut gap between local production and consumption. Truth is that time has come for us to start growing local manufacturers and local contractors. All across we take loans from China, we take from the World Bank, we take from everywhere, and then they insist that we must use their contractors and their manufacturers. That does not help us to grow. Until when we empower our own local ones. We have for a very long time have manufacturers of meta in Nigeria. There was one in Zaria which I know very well. Today they are not functioning. They used to employ over a thousand people working. They work 24 hours around the clock. Today they are no more, and we are encouraging where we take loan from World Bank. When the money comes we take it to China and they empower them. So I think there is no better time that this motion will work than now when the power sector is working on how to see that every household has a meter. Origin need to protect local meta-manufacturers in the ongoing national mass metering program of the federal government. Concerned that if the federal government and other stakeholders do not make urgent intervention, and indeed this Senate, the ongoing World Bank funded national mass metering program phase two would ultimately encourage foreign company participation, lots of jobs and funds to the detriment of local manufacturers and causing economic retrogression. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.