Fuel scarcity may worsen as marketers threaten industrial action

Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have threatened to embark on industrial action following the failure of the Federal Government to honour their outstanding payment of bridging claims for the transportation of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.

Fuel scarcity had lingered for a week leaving commuters stranded.

Expressways and inner roads were partially blocked due to few filling stations dispensing fuel to long queues of motorists anxiously waiting to buy fuel, while there was hike in transport fares for both intra and inter-state commuting under the guise of fuel scarcity.

The IPMAN members, on Friday, said they had prepared a communiqué to be issued, detailing their demands again, adding that failure of the government to meet the demands would result in the “mother of all queues”.

The oil marketers had warned that Nigerians could witness “the mother of all queues” soon if the Federal Government failed to pay the 12 months bridging claims being owed operators in the downstream oil sector.

They had also denied being paid N74bn by the Federal Government as bridging claims for the transportation of petrol.

The Federal Government through its Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority had earlier said it paid N74bn as bridging claims to oil marketers for the transportation of petroleum products across the country in seven months.

However, the Secretary, Abuja-Suleja IPMAN, Mohammed Shuaibu, said though some members had confirmed the receipt of payments, a host of others had yet to receive theirs.

Shuaibu, whose unit covers Abuja, Kogi, Niger and parts of Nasarawa and Kaduna, stated: “We’ve reached out to the government but no response. We shall give them our resolutions as contained on our communiqué and if nothing happens then the strike will take effect after the break.

“The strike will lead to the mother of all queues because depots in the North and other parts of the country are ready to join us in solidarity. Nigerians should know that the situation is beyond us right now.

“This is because many of our members are going out of business because of the over N50bn bridging claims that have not been paid to marketers. This is not right and something has to be done,” he told PUNCH.

Shuaibu added that IPMAN would present the resolutions reached by its members to the Federal Government through NMDPRA by Tuesday before the proposed strike would commence.

The Star