Even with the exacerbated fuel scarcity across the country, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has threatened to impede the supply of Premium Motor Spirit, –PMS (petrol) because of the non-payment of N200 billion bridging claims.
According to a Channels TV report published on Tuesday, April 30, the association’s Unit Chairman and spokesperson for Aba Depot, Mazi Oliver Okolo, had remarked that the threat was issued with the support of the national leadership.
Okolo had also claimed that the debt was being owed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, —NMDPRA.
The association’s threat is coming at at time where due to the nationwide scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), its prices have skyrocketed to between N610 and N800 at the pump, and between N1000 and N1200 in the black markets.
In a statement released after a press conference on Tuesday, Okolo revealed that the NMDPRA had defaulted in paying the N200bn debt despite receiving an order for payment from the Petroleum Minister (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri.
The IPMAN deport Chairman had claimed that since the directive by the minister in February 2024, only N13bn had been paid to their members, thus crippling their businesses.
Okoro had also blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the sole importer of petroleum products in the country, for the current nationwide petrol scarcity.
Okolo also contended that the NNPC Ltd imports the products, and then supplies to private depots who sell to them [IPMAN] at exorbitant prices of between N820 and N950 per litre, and that IPMAN members pay an extra N2m to transport it to other parts of the country, hence the reason they can’t sell the product to Nigerians at the agreed pump price.
The IPMAN members have now urged President Bola Tinubu, to closely look into the matter, which is “highly detrimental to their businesses and reverse it forthwith”, as it is already impacting negatively on the masses.
IPMAN’s grievances against the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) only goes to show the systemic failures and mismanagement within the petroleum industry.
In addition, the alleged profiteering by the NNPC Ltd at the expense of independent marketers shows the government’s failure to ensure stable fuel supply in the country and provide fair pricing for consumers.
