The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike over the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (NMDPRA) non-payment of bridging claims totalling N100 billion.
Bridging claims entails the cost of transporting petrol from depots to approved zones to ensure a uniform pump price across the country.
In May 2022, IPMAN accused the NMDPRA of owing its members over N500 billion in bridging claims.
Four months later, NMDPRA said it was making efforts to pay up the claims
However, the matter remained unresolved as IPMAN, on April 6, 2024, threatened to withdraw its services over N200 billion bridging claims.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Abdul Ibrahim, Gombe depot chairman of IPMAN, said oil marketers have given the NMDPRA seven days to make the payment or they would have their services withdrawn.
The ultimatum follows the NMDPRA’s alleged failure to address the debt, despite promises made in the presence of Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA).
“One year after our last demand requesting the payment of more than N100 billion owed to our members in bridging claims, the management of the NMDPRA has ignored our demand,” he said.
Ibrahim said members of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) mentioned the bridging claims as part of their demands before the strike action would be called off.
He said that NMDPRA promised to offset the bridging claims within 40 days.
“40 days have today become months with no hope of our payment,” Ibrahim said.
“The nine northern depots comprising Jos, Gusau,, Suleja, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Yola and Maiduguri depots have become completely grounded over this lingering debt.
“These debts being owed to us are monies belonging to marketers and which were deducted from us at the point of payments for products, in order to settle our bridging allowances.
“We have also continued to record deaths of our members, closure of their businesses, retrenchment of staff and the take-over of their business premises by the commercial banks.
“These are all arising from this refusal of the NMDPRA to pay us our monies.
“As law-abiding Nigerians, we sincerely believe that we have given the NMDPRA enough time to pay us our monies in bulk and clear the bridging claims.
“But in view of their constant refusal, we have therefore decided to liaise with our sister organisations, the Petroleum Tankers Driver (PTD) and NARTO in order to take a collective action in due course.
“As members of IPMAN, it is important to state that we also own sizeable numbers of the PTD, and we may be forced to withdraw our tankers from loading petroleum products.”
The depot chairman also said another worrisome development was the alleged NMDPRA’s imposition of several abnormal levies on its members.
The association said the levies are not government allocations but monies that were deducted from payments made by its members to settle bridging allowances.
“NMDPRA has made things very difficult for us, as they have also subjected our members to paying bizarre levies whenever we deem it fit to renovate our petrol outlets,” he added.
“There are many distressing levies they have forced on us that are not only anti-developmental, but also unconstitutional and we are demanding their immediate suspension.”
Ibrahim called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the prolonged disputes between IPMAN and NMDPRA.
