Oil Marketers Threaten Nationwide Strike over N200bn Petrol Bridging Debt

* Depot owners say only N13bn paid despite minister’s directive

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Chairmen, Forum of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have threated to embark on a nationwide strike over the N200 billion bridging debt owed by the government.

The group, comprising 21 depot heads, in a communiqué read by its spokesman, Oliver Okolo, in Abuja Tuesday, stressed that despite repeated appeals, the authorities had failed to offset the arrears since September 2022.

Flanked by the Chairman of the forum, Yahaya Alhassan, Okolo maintained that the survival of its members’ businesses was no longer certain, arising from the failure to settle the outstanding payment, which he claimed had led to the death of many members.

He insisted that there was a deliberate refusal to offset the debt, alleging that some of the members of IPMAN had completely shut down their businesses and retrenched their workers due to inability to pay salaries.

Specifically, he said that despite a directive by the Minister of State, Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to settle the outstanding bridging claim in 40 days from February, only N13 billion had been paid.

Okolo stated that members of the IPMAN forum acquired bank loans to keep their fuel retail outlets running, explaining however that it was demoralising to know that many of them had gone bankrupt.

He added that this is as a result of their inability to meet their financial obligations to their banks, revealing that consequently the banks had taken over the business premises of many of their members.

Okolo, who is also the unit chairman of the Aba depot, which serves the entire East, expressed displeasure that rather than receive support from the government to boost their businesses, they were being discouraged by the actions of the authorities.

“It is shameful to state that only the paltry sum of N13 billion has been paid, thus going the whole length to ignore our plight without remorse and without recourse to the minister’s directive.

“Before now, we had taken the honourable path to continually seek explanation from the NMDPRA on why they have blatantly refused to offset the remaining debt, but we have ceaselessly met brick walls,” the group added.

The group further stated that it was not happy with the indiscriminate increment in the issuance and renewal of the sales and storage licence and the subsequent delays in acquiring the licence, which its members had been recently subjected to.

“As IPMAN members, we are also calling on President Bola Tinubu to closely look into this unwholesome figure which is highly detrimental to our business and reverse it forthwith, as it is bound to impact negatively on the masses thereafter,” Okolo said.

According to him, there’s no reason why there should be an increment of over 500 per cent on the sales and storage licence, explaining that it is detrimental to their businesses. “We totally reject it,” Okolo added.

He called on the Federal Government to intervene forthwith in the lingering issues between IPMAN and the Authority.

“We are poised to take far reaching decisions that may cripple the supply and sales of petroleum products across Nigeria, if our demands are not met within the shortest period of time.

“More so, this money in question that the marketers are asking for is our monies set aside, collected from us, and deducted from our own monies, to augment our transport fares.

“We are merely asking for the return of our monies. It is not a matter of government’s budget,” the group pointed out.

IPMAN stated that if the demands were not met within the shortest period of time, it had already put its members on standby across the nation, noting that as law abiding citizens, they were collectively prepared to withdraw their services.

In addition, the oil marketers vowed to close every single outlet, and suspend lifting of products forthwith till their demands are fully met, warning that the consequences will be terrible.

“We have taken every step in the past to salvage this unfortunate and looming situation, which we know will not augur well for Nigerians, but we are presently left with no option than to go all out in the next few days to address this ugly trend in our own way, which will portend great hardship and danger for Nigerians.

“We call on our members to however remain resolute and law abiding, even as we draw close to the immediate ultimatum for our demands to be met and addressed by the NMDPRA,” IPMAN said.

It said that it was pained by the non-availability of petroleum products in the country, which it said has led to the rise of another round of untold hardship on Nigerians.

“We would like to categorically state that the scarcity of PMS (petrol) products is wholly triggered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and not by IPMAN or her members.

“Contrary to claims that IPMAN members are hoarding PMS products, we make bold to say that NNPC are the sole importers of PMS products, and therefore the sole cause of the present PMS scarcity in Nigeria,” the group said.