The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to cut supply to Borno and Yobe states over an alleged federal government’s failure to settle outstanding N6bn debt.
This is coming after 10 months of blackout in Maiduguri and its environs caused by Boko Haram insurgents, which has adversely affected the socio-economic activities in the state.
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In a communique issued and read at the end of its stakeholders meeting in Maiduguri, the Borno State Chairman of the IPMAN, Alhaji Mohammed Kuluwu, said less than 10 per cent of their members were operating due to the debt.
Kuluwu noted that the federal government should have considered the marketers from the two states due to their peculiarities of insecurity.
“We have no choice than to ask our members to stay at home over unpaid seven months claims of N6billion in Borno state alone owed by the Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF).
“As I speak, nothing has been done for several months, nobody is saying anything. If you go within the metropolitan you will discover only 29 marketers out of the 442 currently operating.
“If the government refuses to pay us, we have no option than to halt operations,” Kuluwu warned.