As members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in nine Northern states began a three-day warning strike over the non-payment of their bridging claims totaling N70 billion, there are fears that a new gasoline shortage may affect the nation.
On Monday, September 5, Abdulkadir Mustapha, a representative of IPMAN in Borno State, made the statement.
He claimed that the refusal to fulfil their claims was causing their team members immense difficulty and that failure to do so would lead to an ongoing strike and the closure of all gas outlets.
In order to prevent an indefinite strike that could affect the distribution of fuel throughout the northern region, Mustapha reportedly asked the Federal Government to step in by pressuring the NMDPRA to pay all understanding claims. Mustapha also said that members of the group would begin the strike in Borno, Adamawa, Kano, Kaduna, Benue, Plateau, Gombe, Niger, and Sokoto.
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Mustapha said;
“Hence we have resolved at our meeting held in Kano state to withdraw our services at the depots for three days.
“Henceforth all products lifted must be settled or paid for within the stipulated period of 30 days as earlier agreed. Failure to do so will lead to indefinite suspension of our services in all depots and filling stations across the northern region.
“Though, some few payment had been made which is less than five per cent of our claims but greater part of the claims had not been settled. More so, no payment had been made with with regard to this year claims, and a lot of the year 2019/2021 still remain unpaid.
“For years, we have been following and lobbying the management of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) regarding our unsettled bridging claims amounting to N70 billion to no avail.
“As peace loving association, we urge the authorities to settle or pay all the unsettled claims. We cannot be lifting fuel from far South to the North without being paid. Our decision to go for the warning strike is to draw the attention of authorities to take action that why we didn’t shut down our outlets not to cause unnecessary hardship to the citizenry.”
