IPMAN Threatens To Halt Operations Over N100bn Bridging Claims

News Investigators/ The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to shut down operations if the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) failed to pay an outstanding N100 billion bridging claims.

The Gombe Depot Chairman of IPMAN, Abdul Ibrahim, made the position of the Association known at a press conference in Abuja on Monday.

“One year after our last demand  requesting the payment of more than N100 billion owed to our members in bridging claims, the management of the NMDPRA has ignored our demand,” he said.

Mr Ibrahim said that members of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) mentioned the same IPMAN bridging claims as part of their demands before the strike action would be called off.

He said that NMDPRA promised to offset the bridging claims within 40.

“40 days have today become months with no hope of our payment.

“The nine northern depots comprising of Jos, Gusau,, Suleja, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Yola and Maiduguri depots have become completely grounded over this lingering debt.

“This debts being owed to 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.

“We have also continued to record deaths of our members, closure of their businesses, retrenchment of staff and the take-over of their business premises by the commercial banks.

“These are all arising from this refusal of the NMDPRA to pay us our monies,” he said.

Mr Ibrahim said that IPMAN was giving the NMDPRA seven days to make the payment.

“As 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 Petroleum Tankers Driver (PTD) and NARTO in order to take a collective action in due course.

“As members of IPMAN, it is important to state that we also own sizeable numbers of the PTD, and we may be forced to withdraw our tankers from loading petroleum products,” he said.

He said that another worrisome development was the alleged NMDPRA’s imposition of several abnormal levies on its members.

“NMDPRA has made things 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.

“There are many distressing levies they have forced on us that are not only anti-developmental, but also unconstitutional and we are demanding their immediate suspension,’’ he said.

The IPMAN chairman called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the prolonged disputes between IPMAN and NMDPRA.

NAN