The federal government has been given seven working days by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Depot Chairmen Forum to resolve unresolved bridging claims worth more over N100 billion.
Marketers will stop loading and distributing petroleum products nationwide if the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) does not make the payment by the deadline, according to a statement released Monday in Abuja by the forum’s chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Alhassan.
“We will stop providing our services nationwide if NMDPRA does not pay us within seven working days,” he said. At the same moment, we will lock all of our stations around the country and stop loading and unloading our tanks.
Alhassan was irritated that the NMDPRA has still not responded to the demand for payment, even after a year has gone by.
In relation to the non-payment of the claims, he recalled that during a stakeholders’ meeting on the eve of the most recent strike action announced by the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), the NMDPRA had committed to paying the debt.
The management of NMDPRA has purposefully disregarded our request, despite making explicit commitments to reimburse us, Alhassan underlined, “We are extremely frustrated that one year after our last demand, requesting the payment of over N100 billion owed our members in bridging and NTA claims by the NMDPRA.”
He went on to say, “The NMDPRA made one of those pledges during the stakeholders’ meeting that was held the night before the most recent strike action announced by NARTO. The same IPMAN bridging claims were included in the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners’ (NARTO) list of demands at that meeting before the strike action was canceled.
He added that the National Security Adviser, Mal. Nuhu Ribadu, and the DG of the DSS, Mr. Adeola Ajayi, were present when the NMDPRA pledged to offset the bridging claims within 40 days.
“But forty days have stretched into months, and there is still no hope of the payment,” Alhassan said.
He stated that because of this outstanding debt, all nine Northern depots—Jos, Gusau, Minna, Suleja, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Yola, and Maiduguri depots—have been grounded.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is important to restate that the debt owed to us is money belonging to marketers, which was deducted from us at the point of settling our bridging allowances at the point of payment for products,” he repeated.
The head of the forum also voiced concern about the ongoing bad effects, which include the deaths of some of their members, business closures, employee layoffs, and commercial banks seizing business spaces because the NMDPRA isn’t paying the money.
Alhassan claims that the NMDPRA’s imposition of several unusual fees on members is another urgent problem. The most troubling, he pointed out, is the 5% commission that is charged on the sale of gas station outlets.
“When did the NMDPRA turn into real estate agents and start collecting a commission on the sales of retail gas stations?” he asked. Since the downstream retail sector is always changing, we IPMAN members go above and beyond to update our stores to adhere to global best practices. But because the NMDPRA imposes strange fees on us whenever we renovate, this has become more and more challenging.
These are only a handful of the several upsetting charges they have placed on us, Alhassan added. We are calling for their immediate suspension since they are unconstitutional and anti-developmental.
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“We think we have given the NMDPRA enough time to pay us our dues and clear the bridging claims,” he continued, speaking as a forum of law-abiding Nigerians. However, we have chosen to work with our sister groups, PTD and NARTO, to take collective action when the time is right, given their persistent refusal.
Alhassan noted that a sizable portion of the PTD’s gasoline tankers are owned by IPMAN members. He cautioned that in order to demand the prompt payment of bridging and NTA claims, they could have to stop using their tankers to fill petroleum products.
He urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to completely step in and resolve the continuing conflict between the NMDPRA and the Depot Chairmen of IPMAN.
“Starting today, Monday, February 24, 2025, if our demands are not met, we will not hesitate to take immediate action in due course,” Alhassan cautioned.
As they wait for the NMDPRA to address their concerns, he asked members across to continue being firm and law-abiding.
