Residents of the South East, South-South and North Central zones may experience fuel scarcity soon as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Eastern zone threatens to withdraw their services next week. IPMAN issued the notice of service withdrawal on Sunday in a statement signed by the zonal chairman, Prince Bobby Eberechi Dick and the zonal Secretary, Emmanuel Inimgba.
The group expressed concern over the non-payment of their bridging claims, which they say have been paid to their colleagues in the Northern zone.
The statement reads: “We, the entire members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Eastern Zone, comprising of marketers in the following states: Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, and Nasarawa, resolved on the following after a meeting of the zone held in our Zonal office at Owerri on the 16th of November 2023.
“That the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Downstream/Midstream Petroleum Regulatory should pay us our bridging claims urgently, having paid our colleagues in the North-West and North-East Zones since the subsidy removal regime on the 29th of May 2023, without owing them any kobo.
“This resolution is further necessitated by the fact that despite correspondences sent to the Chief Executive Officer on this issue, he has refused to release funds or respond to the letters.
“Given the above reasons, we are appealing to the Honourable Minister of State for petroleum for his immediate intervention to not only save our business but also save our members from losing their properties used as collaterals to banks where these monies are tied down with defunct Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF).”
The statement goes on to declare: “We state unequivocally that since we cannot fold our hands and see our hard-earned properties taken away by the banks, if the monies are not released to us as done to the other zones by the end of November 2023, we will have no other option than to withdraw our services from the general public.”
With this situation, residents of the affected zones will need to prepare for the likelihood of a fuel scarcity in the coming days if the matter is not resolved.
