Ejiofor Alike

The owners of petroleum depots across the country under the aegis
of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA)
have denied ever embarking on any shut-down of their depots and
facilities.
The Executive Secretary of DAPPMA, Mr. Olufemi Adewole, said in a
statement on Tuesday that contrary to the erroneous stories and
messages being bandied about, it was the Petroleum Tanker Drivers
(PTD) arm of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
workers (NUPENG) and the National Association of Road Transport
Owners (NARTO), who normally transport petroleum products from
marketers’ depots, that embarked on the strike.
He said the strike followed their publicised complaints of not being
paid their legitimate outstanding transportation claims by marketers,
who participate in the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) scheme as a
result of being owed huge reimbursement for petrol imports to date.
“We have maintained that we would sell and load all petroleum
products available to us even as delays in the payments of our
reimbursement have continued to impede and adversely affect our
operations. The suspension in loading in the last few days has been
due to the strike embarked upon by PTD-NUPENG and NARTO.
These two bodies had refused to load out/lift petroleum products
for distribution from our depots,” Adewole explained.
He described the allegation by the Managing Director of Capital Oil,
Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah that DAPPMA member companies embarked on a
strike as not only mischievous, but completely false and a figment
of his imagination.
According to him, Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited does not
participate in the petroleum subsidy scheme having been
disqualified from the PSF scheme’ by the government regulatory
agency hence they do not import petrol.
“The company is not owed a kobo under the PSF scheme as they
cannot make any claim hence they do not feel the impact of non-
payment of subsidy reimbursements, instead, the company stores
petroleum products for NNPC/PPMC under a through arrangement
as do a few other members of our association,” Adewole added.
“We reiterate that since the unions embarked on this action, we
have been dialoguing with them to seek amicable ways of resolving
this logjam bearing in mind its harrowing and debilitating impact on
the Nigerian public and the masses,” Adewole said.
He acknowledged that at the Senate Petroleum Committee’s sitting
last Monday, the areas of disagreement between depot owners/
marketers and the Federal Ministry of Finance and all other
stakeholders were resolved, while PTD-NUPENG and NARTO also
pledged their commitment to resume loading of petroleum products
from all depots that have stock.
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