The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association has placed a stern warning over fuel scarcity which tends to be worse in Nigeria.
Nevertheless, they said the scarcity can be avoided if only the Federal Government triumph on the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to pay 500 billion bridging claims by its members.
Bashir Danmalam ,the IPMAN chairman in kano State said: “NMDPRA is responsible for the payment of bridging claims otherwise known as transportation claims.
“For failure of the NMDPRA to pay the outstanding claims for about nine months, many marketers cannot transport the product because their funds are not being paid.
“Despite the high price of diesel, they manage to supply the petroleum products nationwide.
“The resurfacing of fuel queues in Abuja is just a tip of the iceberg with regard to the petroleum scarcity.
“Only five percent of the marketers can supply the petroleum products because of the failure of NMDPRA to pay them,” he stated.
Danmalam also said that since the merging of DPR, PEF and PPPRA to NMDPRA they have only been paid twice.
He ,then ,calls on the Federal Government to step in and seize the issue before it escalates all over the country.
“As leaders, we have to come out to say the truth because our members are suffering from the failure of the agency to pay the fund.
“This Petroleum Uniformity Fund is our own money we contribute to each litre. This agency is doing more harm than good to us.
“We are not agitating for a transportation fee increase; we are only screaming for payment of our bridging claims that is over N500 billion,” he added.
