Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have declared that it will shut down the 30,000 stations operated by its members across the country if the Federal Government fails to pay the 200 billion naira that is being owed marketers.

IPMAN disclosed this in a communique issued in Abuja by the Chairman of IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum, YAHAYA ALHASSAN, over the non-payment of marketers’ bridging claims.

The association specifically said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), an agency of the Federal Government, had refused to clear the debt, which had continued to accumulate since September 2022.

Bridging claims are payments made by the government to oil marketers for the transportation of petroleum products loaded from depots to various states across the country.

IPMAN said the consequences of the failure by NMDPRA to pay the 200 billion naira will be terrible, as every marketer’s outlet across Nigeria, from the North to the South, and from the East to the West, will be shut down.

IPMAN also asked the Federal Government to intervene and ensure that independent marketers are able to obtain petrol from Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited depots against the current arrangement where independent marketers were compelled to patronize private depots.