Bridging Claims:IPMAN Eastern Zone Threatens To Down Tools

Mohammed Shosanya

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to withdrawn its services in the zone if Nigerian Downstream/Midstream Petroleum Regulatory fails to pay them their bridging claims.

Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Kogi and Nasarawa would be affected by the action.

The embattled marketers disclosed this  in a communique on Sunday after its zonal meeting held in Owerri last Thursday.

The Zonal Chairman and Secretary Prince Bobby Eberechi Dick  and Mr Emmanuel Inimgba,signed the communique made available to Premium News.

It said:”We the entire members of Independent petroleum marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Eastern Zone comprising of marketers in the mentioned states, Abia, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Kogi and Nasarawa do hereby resolved on the following resolutions 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 as matter of urgency pay us our bridging claims having done so to our colleagues in the Northwest and North East Zones since the removal regime on the 29th of May 2023 without any Kobo owed them.

“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.

“In view of this as stated above we are appealing to the Honorable Minister of state for Petroleum for his immediate intervention to not only save our business but save our members from loosing their properties used as collaterals from banks were these monies are tied down with defunct Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF)

“That we state equivocally that since we cannot fold our hands and see our hard earned properties taken away by the banks that if the monies are not released to us as done to the other zones by the end of November 2023 that we will have no other option than to withdraw our services from the general public”.