Petroleum marketers in the North have cried out to the federal government over non-payment of N50 billion bridging claim allegedly being owed them by the defunct Petroleum Equalisation Fund, PEF.
The marketers, under the auspices of Northern Independent Petroleum Marketers Forum, NIPMF, expressed worry that failure to settle their claims might lead to scarcity of fuel in the North.
The marketers said majority of them were running out of capital, and could not buy and transport fuel to the region due to the cash crunch.
Addressing journalists immediately after holding a meeting in Kano on Sunday, the chairman of the forum, Musa Yahaya-Maikifi, said for the past nine months they had been making effort to get their money paid but were unsuccessful.
“If this continues in this way, many of us will have to close down our fuel stations. This will add to the fuel scarcity in the region because the marketers have no capital.
“The federal government refused to settle our claims of over 50 billion naira. We met the authorities involved and they promised to pay us but yet they haven’t. So that is why we are here to plead with them to pay us our unsettled claims so that we continue our business smoothly,” he lamented.
He said they formed the Northern Independent Petroleum Marketers Forum to always have one voice that will speak on their behalf, adding the leadership crisis rocking IPMAN has also added to their woes.
According to him, the forum is ready to address the internal issues.
On his part, the secretary of the forum, Zarma Mustapha, said the bridging claim is supposed to be paid within two weeks but for months now, they are not settled, and that over 3000 marketers from the north are involved.
“One thing that will surprise you is that this money did not belong to government. It is generated from the consumers that patronize fuel from us marketers and the NNPC gathered the money and then pay us through PEF. But still they hold our money.
“Presently you can see that there is fuel scarcity here and there in the north, and if we enter January-February without our claims settled, I assure you that we can’t do it, we can’t do the business.”
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the State Minister of Petroleum to intervene into the matter to help them sustain their business.
