The Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP) on Tuesday decried over N500 billion unpaid bridging claims owed to members by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
This was disclosed by President of the assocaition, Alhaji Lawal Muhammad-Zaki, at an awareness meeting with members on Tuesday in Kano.
He said the unpaid bridging claims was the major challenge marketers were facing in the transportation of petroleum products to different parts of the country.
Mr Zaki urged the NMDPRA to hasten payment of all the outstanding claims to members for effective distribution of petroleum products in the country.
He said, “Diesel is very costly, we find it difficult to fuel our trucks to transport petroleum products to different parts of the country.
“We buy spare parts for our vehicles with foreign exchange, which is also inadequate,” he said
Also speaking, the ADITOP Consultant, Mr Maurice Ibe, stressed the importance of unity among members.
He urged members to forward their claims to enable him processed them under one umbrella
Mr Ibe said: “ADITOP and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria are being owed about N500 billion, but the NMDPRA claimed to have paid only N74 billion, which is a drop in the bucket.”
