Oil Marketers under the aegis of the Depot Chairmen Forum (DCF) of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Monday threatened to embark on a strike action if the N100 billion owed it by the federal government in ‘bridging claims’ is not paid.
The forum, in a communiqué issued in Abuja by its Chairman, Yahaya Alhassan, gave the federal government a seven-day ultimatum, warning that if the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) fails to make the payment within the stipulated time, marketers will halt the loading and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.
Alhasan said: “If NMDPRA does not pay our money within seven working days, we are going to withdraw our services all over the country and we are going to withdraw our tanks from loading and discharging. At the same time, we are going to lock all our stations across Nigeria.”
According to him, the marketers are now frustrated that a year after the demand for payment, the NMDPRA has continued to ignore the group, recalling that the regulator promised to pay on the eve of the last strike action declared by Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).
He added: “We are extremely frustrated that one year after our last demand as a forum, requesting the payment of over N100 billion owed our members in bridging and claims by the NMDPRA, the management of the NMDPRA has deliberately ignored our request, even after making clear promises to pay us.”
Reading the communique, Alhasan expressed frustration over the NMDPRA’s failure to settle the bridging claims, despite repeated assurances. The claims, which date back to 2024, he said, were deducted from marketers’ payments for products to settle bridging allowances.
“If NMDPRA doesn’t pay our money within seven days, we are going to withdraw our services across the nation,” he stated.
He revealed that Northern depots, comprising the Jos, Gusau, Minna, Suleja, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Yola and Maiduguri depot, had become completely grounded due to this lingering debt.
IPMAN also frowned on the 5 per cent levy imposed on its members by NMDPRA on the sale of petrol stations, which they described as unconstitutional and anti-developmental. It clarified that the funds were not government allocations but monies that were deducted from payments made by its members to settle bridging allowances.
It stressed that the prolonged non-payment of these debts had led to devastating consequences for its members, including the loss of lives, the closure of businesses, staff retrenchment and the takeover of business premises by commercial banks.
“These debts are not ours, they belong to marketers and were deducted from us at the point of payments for products. We have continued to face the tragic consequences of this refusal to pay, and it has reached a critical point.
“The NMDPRA has no business acting as real estate agents, collecting commissions on the sale of petrol stations. This is just one of the many strange levies that we are being forced to pay, which are anti-developmental and unconstitutional,” it added.
Additionally, IPMAN pointed to difficulties in maintaining and renovating petrol outlets due to further excessive levies imposed by the NMDPRA. Members, they argued, are being penalised for seeking to meet international best practices by modernising their outlets.
“And so, as IPMAN members, we go the extra mile to renovate our outlets occasionally, to meet with international best practices. However, the NMDPRA has also made this 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.
“These are just a few of the many distressing levies they have forced on us; these are not only anti-developmental, they are also unconstitutional, and we are demanding their immediate suspension,” the oil marketers added.
The forum stressed that as law-abiding Nigerians, it believes that it has given the NMDPRA enough time to pay its 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 PTD and NARTO, in order to take collective action in due course. As members of IPMAN, it is important to state that we also own sizeable numbers of petroleum tankers driven by the PTD, and we may be forced to withdraw our tankers from loading petroleum products in a view to enforce the immediate payment of our bridging and NTA claims.
“We hereby call on the federal government of Nigeria headed by President Bola Tinubu to fully intervene in these prolonged disputes between Depot Chairmen of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the NMDPRA. We will not hesitate to immediately take action in due course if our demands are not met immediately beginning from today Monday 24th February 2025,” the group stressed.
The oil marketers further recalled that the NMDPRA had promised to offset the bridging claims in 40 days even in the presence of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and the Director Department of State Service (DSS), Mr. Adeola Ajayi.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is imperative to state again that this debt being owed 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,” the group noted.
