As the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) hands-off the monopoly of petrol importation, petroleum marketers have demanded immediate release of their outstanding supplies of Premium Motor Sprit otherwise known as petrol worth N30.96 trillion by the National oil company.
Addressing journalists at the Suleja/Abuja Secretariat of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday, the marketers commended the federal government for ending the subsidy regime, however, said the industry will never stabilize if the outstanding product tickets are not settled by the NNPCL.
The concerned members of the association held a caucus meeting over the weekend which comprises the chairmen of depots from Suleja/Abuja, Gusau, Minna, and Kaduna among others, expressed dismay over the long delay by the NNPCL to release the products to their members.
Chairman of the Suleja/Abuja Secretariat of the IPMAN, Alhaji Yahaya Ahman Alhassan said, the NNPCL sold the product tickets to their members between six to seven months now, used the money to import fuel into the country but has yet to dispense it to this moment that despite several follow-ups.
The Suleja/Abuja branch chairman further stated that the bridging scheme must be retained to stabilize the distribution of the product to the nooks and crannies of the country.
He said the government should not mistakenly scrap Bridging Scheme as it’s not a government-owned subsidy. “The scheme is self-funded by marketers. The government does not contribute a kobo to the scheme and the has helped various governments in the past to balance the distribution of the products in the country.
He further explained that the Nigerian economy is road-driven and therefore tampering with the bridging scheme will further divide the country and bring more hardship to the citizenry.
The chairman however solicited government intervention to ensure the payment of all outstanding bridging claims with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority without delay.
“There are more than 4,000 outstanding tickets with the NNPCL and each ticket is worth N7,740,000. Our fear is that most of our members borrowed from banks to buy the products and the loans are accumulating huge interest. Some of our members are being harassed by the bank officials.”
NNPCL was yet to respond to LEADERSHIP’s inquiry at press time.
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to quickly intervene as any scarcity of the product in the market will push the country into a serious fuel crisis that will never be contained within a short period,” Alhassan said.
He said a lot of Nigerians are currently struggling to pay the cost per liter at N537, only God knows how much the liter will be if we are out of business due to the huge debts.
IPMAN controls over 70 percent of the retail outlet of the markets at the moment.
