The Depot Chairmen Forum of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to settle outstanding bridging claims exceeding N100 billion.
The forum, in a communiqué issued in Abuja by its Chairman, Yahaya Alhassan, warned that if the NMDPRA fails to comply, marketers will halt petroleum product loading and distribution nationwide, risking fuel shortages.
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.”
He stated that marketers are frustrated that, despite demanding payment for over a year, the NMDPRA has continued to ignore them.
He also recalled that the regulator had promised to settle the debt on the eve of the last strike declared by the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners.
“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,” Alhasan stated.
Alhassan voiced frustration over NMDPRA’s failure to pay the bridging claims despite repeated assurances.
He noted that the claims, dating back to 2024, were deducted from marketers’ payments for products to cover bridging allowances.
“If NMDPRA doesn’t pay our money within seven days, we are going to withdraw our services across the nation,” he noted.
He disclosed that northern depots, including those in Jos, Gusau, Minna, Suleja, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Yola, and Maiduguri, have been completely grounded due to the unresolved debt.
IPMAN also condemned the 5% levy imposed by NMDPRA on the sale of petrol stations, calling it unconstitutional and anti-developmental. It emphasized that the funds in question were not government allocations but deductions from payments made by its members to cover bridging allowances.
