Following the start of a three-day warning strike by the Suleja Depot Branch of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Kogi, Niger and neighbouring states may see another round of petrol shortages.
Members of the union went on strike on Monday in opposition to the Federal Government’s ongoing obligation to oil marketers for the payment of gasoline transportation costs, also known as bridging claims.
Yahaya Alhassan, the chairman of the IPMAN Suleja Depot Branch, claimed that because the union had halted trucks from transporting PMS to the northern states, marketers had ceased supplying goods from the depot.
He said marketers were withdrawing their services until the Federal Government settled their outstanding bridging claims of N50.5bn.
He said, “The Petroleum Equalisation Fund has not paid our money. We have N50.5bn (to be paid by PEF) and because of that we are withdrawing our services.”
He said the three-day warning strike would go on if the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority fails to remit the money.
“At the expiration of the warning strike on Wednesday, if they (NMDPRA) fail to pay us, the stoppage of supply would continue indefinitely,” Alhassan stated.
He said all the appeals that the association made to the authority to pay the debt had been ignored.
