Virtually all the trucks were loaded with petrol but IPMAN insisted they were withdrawing their services until the Federal Government pays their outstanding bridging claims of N50.5billion.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN ) of the Suleja Depot branch has commenced a three-day warning strike, a situation that will threaten petroleum availability in many parts of the country.
According to reports, scarcity of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) would especially be acute in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kaduna, Nasarawa, Kogi, Niger and others.
IPMAN chairman of the branch, Alhaji Yahaya Alhassan, who announced the stoppage of supply of the product from the depot, took reporters on a tour round the packed trucks in the depot at Maje, Suleja in Niger State.
Virtually all the trucks were loaded with petrol but the marketers insisted they were withdrawing their services until the Federal Government pays their outstanding bridging claims of N50.5billion.
The strike, which commenced on Monday, would continue till Wednesday.
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He said should the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) fail to remit the money, the stoppage of supply would continue indefinitely, Alhassan declared.
In a related development, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has said that without subsidy, petrol will sell for N462 per litre.
It said the average international market-determined landing cost in the second quarter of this year was $1,283 per metric tonne.
Marketing and distribution cost is N46/litre, it said.
A combination of the cost elements translates to a retail pump price of N462/litre, an average subsidy of N297/litre and an annual estimate of N6.5 trillion on the assumption of 60 million litres of daily premium motor spirit (PMS or petrol) supply.