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

The Gombe depot chairman of IPMAN, Abdul Ibrahim, announced the association’s position 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 Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) members mentioned the same IPMAN bridging claims as part of their demands before the strike action would be called off.

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

“Forty days have today become months with no hope of our payment,” said Mr Ibrahim. “The nine northern depots comprising Jos, Gusau, Suleja, Kaduna, Kano, Gombe, Yola, and Maiduguri depots have become completely grounded over this lingering debt.”

“This debt being owed to us is money belonging to marketers, which was deducted from us at the point of payment for products in order to settle our bridging allowances.”

He said the IPMAN had continued to record members’ deaths, takeover of business premises by commercial banks and loss of jobs due to the debt.

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

Mr Ibrahim said IPMAN was giving the NMDPRA seven days to make the payment, having given the NMDPRA enough time to pay.

“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 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 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)