The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to fulfil the payment of bridging claims amounting to N100bn.

The association threatened to withdraw services if the amount was not paid to them before the deadline.

This move follows the NMDPRA?s failure to clear the debt, despite promises made 40 days ago in the presence of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. If unresolved, the situation could lead to a nationwide scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit nationwide.

The Chairman of the IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum, Yahaya Alhasan, disclosed this during a press conference in Abuja on Monday.

Reading a communique, Alhasan expressed frustration over the NMDPRA?s failure to settle the bridging claims, despite repeated assurances.

The claims, which date back to 2024, were deducted from marketers? payments for products to settle bridging allowances.

Recall that the government previously paid oil marketers N74bn for bridging claims in 2022 and another N2.7bn for freight differentials as of June 6, 2024.

However, IPMAN?s current demands highlight the ongoing challenges in Nigeria?s downstream petroleum sector.

Alhasan said, ?If NMDPRA doesn?t pay our money within seven days, we are going to withdraw our services across the nation.?

?We are extremely frustrated that one year after our last demand as a forum, requesting the payment of over N100 billion owed to our members in bridging and NTA claims by the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, the management of the NMDPRA has deliberately ignored our request, even after making clear promises to pay us.

?One of those promises was made by the NMDPRA at the stakeholders? meeting convened on the eve of the last strike action declared by NARTO. At that stakeholders? meeting, the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, listed this same IPMAN bridging claim as part of their demands before the strike action would be called off.?

He revealed that Northern depots, comprising the Jos depot, Gusau depot, Minna depot, Suleja depot, Kaduna depot, Kano depot, Gombe depot, Yola depot and Maiduguri depot, have become completely grounded due to this lingering debt.

IPMAN also frowned at the five per cent levy imposed on its members by NMDPRA on the sale of petrol stations, which they described as unconstitutional and anti-developmental.

The association clarified that these funds are not government allocations but monies that were deducted from payments made by its members to settle bridging allowances.

It emphasised that the prolonged non-payment of these debts has 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.

Al Hassan added, ?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.?

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 penalized for seeking to meet international best practices by modernising their outlets.

?Another worrisome development is the NMDPRA?s imposition of several abnormal levies on our members. Chief amongst them is the imposition of a five per cent commission accruable to them at the sale of any petrol station outlet in Nigeria. Tell me, when has the NMDPRA turned herself into a real estate agent, collecting a commission on sales of Retail Petrol Outlets? There is no gainsaying the truism that the downstream retail industry is an ever-evolving one.

?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.

?As a forum of law-abiding Nigerians, we sincerely believe that we have given the NMDPRA enough time to pay us our 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 NART, 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 Pres. Bola Tinubu to fully intervene in these prolonged disputes between Depot Chairmen of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. 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 PUNCH)

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