THE Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has threatened to cripple the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), over non-payment of ₦200 billion bridging claims.
The threat is coming on the heel of the current nationwide petrol scarcity which has seen prices of PMS, also known as petrol, surge to between N610 and N900 at the pump, and between N1,000 and N1,300 at the black market.
The association’s unit chairman and spokesperson, Aba Depot, Mazi Oliver Okolo who made the threat, said it was with the backing of the IPMAN’s national leadership.
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He claimed that the debt was being owed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NMDPRA).
In a communique released after a press conference on Tuesday, April 30, Okolo said NMDPRA failed to pay the ₦200 billion debt despite a directive for payment from the Petroleum Minister (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri.
The IPMAN deport chairman claimed that since the directive by the minister in February, only ₦13 billion had been paid to their members, saying that the unpaid claim had crippled their businesses.
“We are extremely distressed and depressed by the laidback attitude of the leadership of the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), towards the survival of our members’ businesses, arising from NMDPRA’s deliberate delay and refusal to offset the debt of over N200 billion owed our members, which has consequently led to the deaths of many of our members and the unfortunate collapse of their businesses.”
He blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the sole importer of petroleum products, for the current nationwide petrol scarcity, adding that some of its members have “completely” shut down their businesses, and retrenched their employees.
“We have watched with apprehension also, the unpatriotic attitude of the leadership of the NMDPRA to offset this debt that has been accrued to us since September 2022.
“As businessmen and women, our members acquired bank loans to keep their fuel retail outlets running daily across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, to serve the teeming population of Nigerians.
“However, it is demoralizing to know that many of our members have gone bankrupt and have become financially insolvent as a result of their inability to meet their financial obligations to their banks, arising wholly from their inability to get their monies from the NMDPRA.”
He also claimed that the banks had taken over the business premises of many of their members.
According to him, as indigenous organisations, and depot chairmen, they are sad that rather than receiving support from the government to boost their businesses, they face discouragement from NMDPRA.
“It is noteworthy to recall and state here that at a stakeholders meeting held on the 20th of February, 2024 with Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri, the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), and the NSA Nuhu Ribadu, Engr. Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Authority of NMDPRA, was mandated by Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri to clear the entire debt in 40 days.
“However today, we have crossed the 40-day time-lapse given to the NMDPRA to clear the debt, and 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 recourse to the Honourable Minister’s directive,” he added.
Okolo also claimed that the NNPCL importer the products, and supplied to private depots who then sold to them at exorbitant prices of between ₦820 and ₦950 per litre, adding that IPMAN members paid an extra huge cost to transport the product to other parts of the country, making it difficult for them to sell to Nigerians at the agreed pump price.
The group called on President Bola Tinubu to closely look into the matter, which according to it, was highly detrimental to their businesses.
“We see no reason why there should be an increment of over 500 per cent on the sales and storage license by the NMDPRA. We totally reject it. We also hereby call on the federal government of Nigeria to wholly intervene forthwith in these lingering issues between the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
“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,” the group said.
Meanwhile, there was not response from calls put through to NMDPRA as of time of filing this report.
In its submission, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis Harry, told The ICIR that the bridging cost could be settled systematically without the IPMAN heating up the system further with threats.
“NNPC is responding and and NMDPRA has continued to issue depot licenses to ensure efficiency. There is hope and sanity will return to the system in few days. I think the issue of bridging gap could be systematically sorted out without causing more crisis to Nigerians, “he said.
He also disclosed that massive loading of petroleum products by marketers had not commenced from depots despite claims in some quaters of loading currently going on, but assured that marketers were working with the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to track supply across the country and halt smuggling.
“We shall come out of the storm quicker as we are currently working out a lasting solution to the current crisis, “he said.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.