IPMAN Gives FG Seven-Day Ultimatum To Pay N100bn Claim

ABUJA – The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Ni­geria (IPMAN) has given the Nigerian Midstream and Down­stream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) seven days ultimatum to settle its out­standing bridging claims of N100 billion.

This comes after the NMD­PRA failed to honour its prom­ise to pay the debt, despite assur­ances made in the presence of high-ranking officials.

In a communiqué signed by Alh. Yahaya Alhassan, Chair­man, IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum, which was made available to newsmen in Abuja on Monday, IPMAN threatened to withdraw services nationwide, including halting the loading and distribution of petroleum products, if the payment is not made. ­

The situation has already grounded nine northern depots, exacerbating fuel scarcity across Nigeria.

Additionally, IPMAN has crit­icised NMDPRA for imposing “abnormal levies,” including a 5% commission on petrol station sales.

Part of the communique reads, “We are extremely frustrated that one year after our last demand as a forum, requesting the payment of over N100 billion owed our mem­bers in bridging and NTA claims by the Nigerian Midstream Down­stream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the man­agement of the NMDPRA have deliberately ignored our request, even after making clear promises to pay us.

“One of those promises was made by the NMDPRA, at the stakeholders meeting convened on the eve of the last strike ac­tion declared by NARTO. At that stakeholders meeting, the Nigeri­an Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) listed this same IPMAN bridging claims as part of their demands before the strike ac­tion would be called off.

“The NMDPRA promised to offset the bridging claims in 40 days even in the presence of the National Security Adviser, Mal. Nuhu Ribadu, and the DG DSS, Mr. Adeola Ajayi. However, 40 days have today become months with no hope of our payment.

“Hence, the nine (9) Northern depots comprising of Jos depot, Gusau depot, Minna depot, Sule­ja depot, Kaduna Depot, Kano de­pot, Gombe depot, Yola Depot and Maiduguri depot have become completely grounded over this lingering debt.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it is imperative to state again that this debt being owed 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, all arising from this refusal of the NMDPRA to pay us our monies.

“Another worrisome develop­ment is the NMDPRA’s imposition of several abnormal levies on our members.

“Chief amongst them is the im­position of a 5% commission ac­cruable to them at the sale of any petrol station outlet in Nigeria. Tell me, when has the NMDPRA turned herself into real estate agents; collecting a commission on sales of retail petrol outlets? There is no gainsaying the truism that the downstream retail industry is an ever-evolving one.

“And so, as IPMAN members, we go the extra mile to renovate our outlets occasionally, to meet with international best practices.

“However, the NMDPRA has also made this 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.

“These are just a few of the many distressing levies they have forced on us; this are not only anti-developmental, they are also unconstitutional, and we are demanding their immediate suspension.

“As a forum of 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 PTD and NARTO, in order to take a collective action in due course.

“As members of IPMAN, it is important to state that we also own sizeable numbers of petroleum tankers driven by the PTD, and we may be forced to withdraw our tankers from loading petroleum products in a view to enforce the immediate payment of our bridg­ing and NTA claims.

“We hereby call on the Federal Government of Nigeria headed by President Bola Tinubu to fully intervene in these prolonged dis­putes between Depot Chairmen of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Nigerian Mid­stream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

“We will not hesitate to imme­diately take actions in due course if our demands are not met im­mediately beginning from today Monday 24th February 2025.

“We call on our members nationwide to however remain resolute and law abiding, as we wait for our demands to be met and addressed by the NMDPRA”.