Barely two weeks to the Yuletide festivities, the Kwara State branch of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has assured motorists of availability of fuel during and after the period.
The Secretary of IPMAN, Mr. Testing Oluwatoba gave the assurance during a telephone chat with Pilot Business Sunday night.
He said, “There is availability of petroleum products in our stations and we are assuring our customers of hitch free supply during the yuletide season.”
Oluwatoba said IPMAN has no plan to join the Depots and Petroleum Products Association of Nigeria (DAPPMA) in its plan to shut down depots on Monday (today).
Meanwhile, while DAPPMA insisted on Sunday it had no understanding with the government to shelve their threat to shut down their facilities midnight Monday, the federal government, on the other hand, claims it reached an agreement with the marketers last Thursday to meet again Monday to further concretise payment modalities of the claims.
The marketers had on December 2, 2018 issued a seven-day ultimatum to the government to pay them an outstanding N800 billion subsidy claims or compel them to shut down their facilities.
However, the Federal Government, last Thursday claimed it had met with the marketers and reached a common ground on how the claims will be paid, which in effect took care of the marketers’ threat to shut down their facilities.
Statement from the Media Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Mr Paul Ella, explained that the marketers assured the government that operations at all depots and sales would continue until further notice.
The meeting, reportedly held at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters was attended by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, other senior government officials from the finance ministry, the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Budget Office of the Federation, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
Also in attendance on the part of the petroleum marketers were said to be representatives from the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
According to the statement, while expressing satisfaction over the arrangement being made by the government to settle their claims, the petroleum marketers assured the public of availability of petroleum products.
The statement read: “The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) with the Federal Government delegation meeting held at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Thursday, December 6, 2018, agreed that operations at all depots and sales will continue until further notice.”
But about 48 hours later (Saturday), the marketers under the aegis of DAPPMA, said they did not reach any agreement with the Federal Government on the N800 billion subsidy arrears, adding that their ultimatum to shut down operations on Monday remained unchanged.
The DAPPMA Executive Secretary, Mr. Olufemi Adewole, said in a statement in Lagos that offers by government failed to meet the legitimate demands of the association, adding: “We did not sign the purported document with government as claimed. We still stand by our ultimatum which will expire on Monday.”
The same day (Saturday), the Federal Government disclosed that on Friday December 14, 2018. The marketers would be paid N236 billion out of the N348 billion approved by the National Assembly as outstanding subsidy claims.
The Chief Operating Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Downstream, Mr. Henry Ikem-Obih, made the disclosure to journalists in Abuja.
He said: “The Debt Management Office (DMO) will by next week, precisely on December 14th, pay oil marketers first part of the subsidy arrears of N236 billion as agreed by both parties.
