JUST IN: Fuel Scarcity Looms As IPMAN Threatens Showdown 5 Days To Ramadan—-Thecloudngr reports that 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, Alhaji Abdul Ibrahim, made the position known at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday.

“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.

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.

“Forty days have today become months with no hope of our payment. The nine northern depots comprising 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.

Ibrahim said 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 collective action in due course.

“As members of IPMAN, it is important to state that we also own sizable 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.

In another development, IPMAN in the South West Zone has threatened to shut down operations in the zone, if the 30 arrested fuel-laden tankers in Lagos are not released.

Chairman of IPMAN’s Western Zone, Chief Joseph Akanni, during an encounter with journalists in Ibadan on Monday, said the tankers, carrying a combined total of 1,350,000 (1.35million) litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), were arrested early Saturday morning by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASMA) and taken to the agency’s yard in Oshodi.

According to him, each of the tankers carried 45,000 litres of PMS and the product is highly flammable which could cause a monumental fire disaster, if care is not taken.

Akanni voiced the association’s grave concerns that an “injury to one is an injury to all.” He expressed solidarity with the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) as well as the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

He explained that the tankers left Dangote Refinery at approximately 3am on the day they were arrested. He   also raised concerns on the alleged hazards posed by the LASMA’s actions.

“What the Ministry of Transport has done is against the law. It is dangerous to keep tankers with petrol in one location because petrol is flammable.

“The information reaching us is that they have started siphoning petrol from the tankers, which implies that we won’t have the same quantity as when it was towed.”

Akanni drew attention to the legal obligations surrounding fuel transport, asserting that all seized tankers should have been required to offload their cargo before any arrest.

“We will not stand idly by,” he stated, adding, “If nothing is done, we are ready to shut down our petrol stations across the South West in solidarity with the tanker drivers.”

He warned that if there is any fire incident resulting from this situation, the Lagos State Government would be held responsible for both financial and potential loss of lives.

“We are giving a stern warning,” Akanni concluded.