Northern oil traders to go on strike over N250bn unpaid subsidy
The Northern Independent Petroleum Marketers Forum has said its members will go on strike if the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) does not pay them more than N250 billion.
Forum chairman Musa Maikifi at a Thursday press conference in Kano said forum members owed more than 250 billion naira in compensation claims.
Mr. Maikifi said the offset claims represent the cost of transporting fuel from pipelines and commodity marketing company depots to approved areas to ensure a uniform pump price across the country.
The forum includes nine depots in the north of the country: Kano, Kaduna, Suleja, Minna, Jos, Maiduguri, Gombe and Yola depots.
He said the delay in their payment threatened their businesses as some of their members could not afford to supply oil and sell it at various outlets.
According to the forum, the money, if paid, would be used by their members to support their business.
Mr. Maikifi said that if the government does not pay the amount on time, it will affect the transportation of fuel to all of the northern states.
Also speaking at the event, forum secretary Jarma Mustapha said there were other outstanding compensation claims from the old Petroleum Equalization Fund which still have not been resolved. not been paid.
"We have outstanding compensation claims until the day the end of deregulation was announced by the new president (Bola Tinubu).
"While the new deregulation regime has started now, we are facing challenges such as lack of capacity and lack of capital to continue our business as most of our capital has been hanged with the former Petroleum Equalization Fund.
“We are now calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene so that all of our outstanding debts, until May 30, 2023, when the new deregulation was announced, are paid so that our members continue to get enough capital to continue to be in business.
READ ALSO: Governor of Adamawa Approves Five Measures to Mitigate Effects of Subsidy Removal“Almost all of our members are going out of business. Based on this, we are asking the president to intervene, to speak to the authorities concerned so that they immediately pay all our outstanding debts,” Mustapha appealed.
“The money used to pay compensation claims is that paid by consumers, which is collected by merchants, paid to NNPC, NNPC collects and pays into the collective fund of the Equalization Fund.
>“This money is not budgeted, it is funded by the government. It is funded by consumers through traders, basically to equalize prices across the country,” Mustapha said. /p> Support PREMIUM TIMES integrity and credibility journalism
The Northern Independent Petroleum Marketers Forum has said its members will go on strike if the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) does not pay them more than N250 billion.
Forum chairman Musa Maikifi at a Thursday press conference in Kano said forum members owed more than 250 billion naira in compensation claims.
Mr. Maikifi said the offset claims represent the cost of transporting fuel from pipelines and commodity marketing company depots to approved areas to ensure a uniform pump price across the country.
The forum includes nine depots in the north of the country: Kano, Kaduna, Suleja, Minna, Jos, Maiduguri, Gombe and Yola depots.
He said the delay in their payment threatened their businesses as some of their members could not afford to supply oil and sell it at various outlets.
According to the forum, the money, if paid, would be used by their members to support their business.
Mr. Maikifi said that if the government does not pay the amount on time, it will affect the transportation of fuel to all of the northern states.
Also speaking at the event, forum secretary Jarma Mustapha said there were other outstanding compensation claims from the old Petroleum Equalization Fund which still have not been resolved. not been paid.
"We have outstanding compensation claims until the day the end of deregulation was announced by the new president (Bola Tinubu).
"While the new deregulation regime has started now, we are facing challenges such as lack of capacity and lack of capital to continue our business as most of our capital has been hanged with the former Petroleum Equalization Fund.
“We are now calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene so that all of our outstanding debts, until May 30, 2023, when the new deregulation was announced, are paid so that our members continue to get enough capital to continue to be in business.
READ ALSO: Governor of Adamawa Approves Five Measures to Mitigate Effects of Subsidy Removal“Almost all of our members are going out of business. Based on this, we are asking the president to intervene, to speak to the authorities concerned so that they immediately pay all our outstanding debts,” Mustapha appealed.
“The money used to pay compensation claims is that paid by consumers, which is collected by merchants, paid to NNPC, NNPC collects and pays into the collective fund of the Equalization Fund.
>“This money is not budgeted, it is funded by the government. It is funded by consumers through traders, basically to equalize prices across the country,” Mustapha said. /p> Support PREMIUM TIMES integrity and credibility journalism
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