The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) members in the South West said they are selling petrol at N165 per litre amid the product’s scarcity, but their northern counterparts have insisted on getting claims payment.
They disclosed this when they paid a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in Abuja.
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In a statement, NMDPRA’s Chief Executive, Engr Farouk Ahmed, expressed worry over the rise in petroleum products theft and pipeline vandalism, especially Line 2B which services Mosimi, Ibadan and Ilorin depots, leading to revenue losses for the government.
He called on the association to report any depot selling products above the approved prices.
The South West Chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen Lamidi, in his response, said, “As far as we are concerned in the South West, we have gone beyond strike. Strike is not the solution to any problem, because if there is a strike, it affects the masses and our business.”
The Abuja and Suleja depots chapter of IPMAN had, on Wednesday, declared a one-week strike over unpaid bridging claims worth N50 billion, but NMDPRA said it had paid N74bn claims in the last seven months, urging them to come forward for claims verification.
Meanwhile, the northern chapter of IPMAN has challenged NMDPRA to produce evidence that it paid marketers N74bn transport claims.
Chairman of the chapter, Alhaji Bashir Danmalam, during a press briefing in Kano at the weekend, dismissed the payment claim by the authority saying his members are owed N500bn.
He said, “I’m surprised to hear the story on payment of the N74bn claims by the Chief Executive of the agency, Farouk Ahmed. Either he was misinformed or he does not know what is happening in the place. Who and who were paid the money? I know some of the marketers who are being owed N10bn each. So for him to say that the agency paid N74bn to marketers is not true.”
Danmalam also said IPMAN heard that NNPCL recently released over N70bn to NMDPRA to pay marketers but his members did not get it.
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