Amid the ongoing scarcity of petrol in Abuja, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abuja and Suleja units have halted supply of products over alleged unpaid bridging claims to the tune of N50 billion.
This is even as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has insisted on manual verification of the claims, saying it has paid off claims faster and more than its predecessor since its creation last year.
IPMAN unit Chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Hamman Alhassan, told journalists in Abuja that though the strike embarked on is a warning strike, “if care is not taken, we are going to continue because our members, majority of them, have already left this business because of their payments. The warning is between now and next week.”
The unit Secretary, Alhaji Mohammed Shuaibu, also said, “If we can give you the sum total they are owing the marketers today, it is above N50bn for 12 months.”
Shuaibu said the claims were owed by the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) which was merged to form NMDPRA in October, 2021, noting that the debt since 2021 had caused about 85 per cent of their staff to be laid off “because there is no money to pay their salaries. This includes pump attendants, truck drivers and other administrative staff.”
IPMAN unit secretary said the government under PEF transitioned from manual to electronic claims verification with the Project Aquila, an electronic product monitoring system operating .
He said, “They have our records and everything is in their system; they should come out clean and pay us our money. The last time we confronted him, he selected marketers and paid them. He paid three or four marketers and said it was a mistake.”
He also blamed the petrol scarcity in Abuja and environs on the non-payment of claims as IPMAN lacked money to buy new products and transport same.
“The public should hold the head of NMDPRA responsible for the current scarcity being experienced across the petrol stations in Abuja and environs,” Shuaibu added.
Recall that the CEO of NMDPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed, recently dismissed the one-year claims of marketers, saying only few payments were outstanding because those marketers did not show up for claims verification.
Reacting to the development in a statement, NMDPRA said it has paid N74 billion claims to marketers in seven months.
It said after a meeting in May, NMDPRA paid another N10 billion in June and also implemented N10 upward freight rate review for the transporters.
“The Authority wishes to reiterate that bridging payment is an ongoing process which is carried out after due verification exercise by the Authority and marketers. So far, the Authority paid N71,233,712,991 bridging claims and another N2,736,179,950.84 freight differentials to the Marketers as at 6th June, 2022,” the statement added.
