Business

Northern petrol marketers threaten strike action, give reason

Northern Independent Petroleum Marketers Forum, (NIPMF) has threatened to embark on industrial action over N250 billion outstanding bridging claims that had not been paid by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

Making this known while addressing a press conference in Kano, after a review meeting, Chairman of the forum, Musa Yahya Maikifi on Friday, said the forum had discovered that there is over N250 billion outstanding bridging claims that had not been paid by the NMDPRA for the period of one year.

He said that the forum comprises nine depots in the North, including Kano, Kaduna, Suleja, Minna, Jos, Maiduguri, Gombe and Yola depots.

He however disclosed that failure to access the fund is threatening their businesses as some of their members could not afford to supply petroleum and sell it at various outlets.

He added that the money would be used by the members of the forum to sustain the business, noting that failure to access the fund would have adverse effects on the entire northern state.

While speaking on the issue, the Secretary of the forum, Jarma Mustapha, said there were lots of outstanding bridging claims since the time of the defunct Petroleum Equalisation Fund but the money had not been paid to them.

“We have outstanding bridging claims up to the day when the end of the deregulation was announced by the new President. As the new deregulation regime started now, we are faced with difficulties such as lack of capacity, lack of capital to continue our business because most of our capital was hanged with the defunct Petroleum Equalization Fund.”

He however stated; “We are now calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene so that the whole of our outstanding claims, up to the 30th May, 2023, when the new deregulation was announced, should be paid for our members to continue getting enough capital to continue being in business.”

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