The scarcity of petrol may worsen unless the Federal Government meets the demands of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

Both parties will meet in Abuja today to deliberate on a strike option being muted by IPMAN to drive home its demand for payment of bridging gap (transportation) claims.

The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) claim to have paid marketers N74 billion for it.

The claim, which did not go down well with IPMAN, has led to threats by the body last week that the country may “witness the mother of all fuel queues from next week (this week)” if the Federal Government does not pay the 12 months bridging gap fund claims being owed operators in the downstream oil sector.

NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, had last week said the regulator had paid oil marketers N74 billion as bridging gap claims for the transportation of petroleum products in seven months.

This statement was in reaction to IPMAN’s claims of being owed the bridging gap by the Federal government through the NMDPRA.

Reacting to the NMDPRA’s claims, the Secretary, Abuja-Suleja Branch of IPMAN, Mohammed Shuaibu, in an interview, challenged Ahmed to reveal the names of the marketers the government paid the N74 billion to as well as show documents to prove the payment was made.

“Anyway, by the time we down-tool fully within the next one week, he (Ahmed) will explain to the public and the presidency how the situation got to that level, because this one is going to lead to the mother of all queues,” Shuaibu said.

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He said the indebtedness to marketers was way beyond N50 billion, adding that IPMAN had been raising the alarm because many of its members were shutting down operations due to their inability to continue in business.

Shuaibu added: “You are owing a marketer, for example, N30million or N20million, you paid him N150,000 or N200,000 and you now go on air to say you have paid the marketer. Is there any justification for that?

“He (Ahmed) alleged he has paid marketers N74 billion right? We have accused him of sabotaging our efforts by not paying us our bridging claims and that is the fact.

“Since he claims to have paid, we are not arguing but we challenge him to come out and name the marketers that he paid. Let him explain from A to Z. Let him bring out the documents.

“If you say you have paid our members N74billion, and we say we’ve not been paid, then come out and explain to the public.

“By the time we down-tool, it will be massive because the nine depots in the North and other marketers are now itching to come out with their own claims.

“They are ready to join in solidarity and may be by that time the government will know if we are joking or not.”

Petrol scarcity got more intense yesterday in Lagos. Across the metropolis, several filling stations were shut, while the few that sold fuel did so using two or three pumps, resulting in long queues spilling onto the roads.

The situation is not likely to improve given the supply challenges that IPMAN National Operations Controller, Mike Osatuyi, said have persisted.

“Look, we are still having supply issues and as long as this remains, the challenge of scarcity will remain,” Osatuyi said.

Some filling stations have resorted to selling above the N165 per litre cap by the industry regulator.

Some petrol stations sold the commodity at N180 per litre yesterday.