IPMAN Threatens Legal Action Over Alleged N74bn Payment To Marketers

Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has threatened to sue the management of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) over its purported claims on the payment of N74 billion transport claims to marketers.

The management of NMDPRA had on Wednesday said it had paid marketers N74 billion within the past seven months.

The chairman of IPMAN (North), Alhaji Bashir Danmalam, made the threat at a news conference in Kano yesterday.

Danmalam, who was reacting to the purported payment, said the claim was not true as their members were not paid unless the payment was made to “ghost marketers”.

He challenged the management of the NMDPRA to come up with the names of all the marketers who were paid to prove their claims.

“I’m surprised to hear the story on payment of the N74 billion claims by the chief executive of the agency, Faruk Ahmed Maishanu. Either he was misinformed or he does not know what is happening in the place.

“Who and who were paid the money? I know some of the marketers who are being owed N10 billion each. So, for him to say that the agency paid N74 billion to marketers is not true.

“So, we can only agree with the said payment if the money was paid to “ghost marketers” or if it is part of the rejected waybill.

“The federal government should sack this man because he is not competent to hold such a sensitive position in view of the fact that he doesn’t know what is going on there,” he said.

He said the inability of the agency to settle the marketers transport claims amounting to about N500 billion was responsible for the persistent fuel shortage being experienced in the country.

Danmalam said based on the investigation conducted by IPMAN, It was discovered that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had recently released over N70 billion to the agency to pay marketers which had yet to be paid.

He lamented that before now, their members were being paid their claims within one or two months as against the present system of payment.