Fuel scarcity looms in South-East, others as independent marketers threaten to withdraw service
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to discontinue services in the zone if the Nigerian Downstream/Midstream Petroleum Regulatory fails to pay them their bridging claims, which could lead to a fuel shortage in some states in the east of the country.
Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, and Nasarawa are some of the impacted states.
This warning was issued in a statement issued after a zone conference that took place in Owerri on November 16th, 2023.
Following a meeting of the zone in their Zonal office in Owerri, Nigeria, the members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Eastern Zone, which includes marketers from the states of Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, and Nasarawa, “do hereby resolved on the following resolutions.”
We demand immediate payment of our bridging claims from the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Downstream/Midstream Petroleum Regulatory, as was done for our colleagues in the Northwest and North East Zones after the removal regime on May 29, 2023.
“This decision is further compelled by the fact that despite correspondences submitted to the Chief Executive Officer on this topic, he has refused to disburse funds or react to the letters.
Considering the foregoing, we are writing to the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum to request his prompt intervention to save not only our company but also the properties of our members that have been used as collaterals with banks where these funds are tied down with the now-defunct Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF).
We declare unequivocally that if the funds are not provided to us as done to the other zones by the end of November 2023, we will have no other option than to remove our services from the general public because we cannot stand by and watch our hard-earned properties be taken away by the banks.
