THE Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), western zone, has suspended all its national body coordinators from collecting any form of levies in all depots within the south-west zones.

The chairman of IPMAN, western zone, Mr Olumide Ogunmade, disclosed this at the weekend during the first stakeholder’s forum in Ibadan. In attendance were Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ arm of NUPENG and members of Independent Marketers arm of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG).

In a joint communiqué passed by the five zones which comprise the Western zone, the zone will no longer recognise all national coordinators until the N10.9 billion collected for subsidy on IPMAN Investment Limited is accounted for.

Ogunmade said that all members of the western zone would henceforth cease to remit its dues and levies to the national coffers if they fail to give account of stewardship on all products and amount collected from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on subsidy.

“We have agreed that all western zones which comprises of five zones will hence forth cease to recognise the national coordinators collecting levy in all depots of the south-west. We will no longer remit money to the national account if the N10 .9 billion collected from the subsidy is not accounted for by the national executives,” he said.

Ogunmade said that all draft payment of products in the zone would be submitted and managed by the south-west zones, adding that the zones had resolved to send all agents of national body in all NNPC depots and Apapa depot packing.

Ogunmade said that all IPMAN western zone members with all members of the Petroleum Tanker Driver of NUPENG and the Independent Marketers brach of NUPENG members have agreed to work mutually without involving the national coordinator in all depots. “The problem of IPMAN over the years has been that of the leadership which has been to the detriments of the members. We at the western zone are not fighting anybody because we are strict businessmen. We are not politicians and the national executives should stop playing politics with members’ integrity.”

Ogunmade said that the zone had resolved to getting its allocation to its members directly so as to be accountable to its members, adding that members of the zones has not benefitted significantly from allocation which was been managed by the national body. He said that the members of Western zone had observed that the negative influence of the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) Plc in IPMAN activities need to be reviewed. “We have agreed that surveillance activities of NNPC facilities within the zone will be strengthened by all stakeholders. We therefore call on NNPC and the Federal Government to extend their support to Western zone stakeholders in this regards.

“We noticed the forgery of the IPMAN western zone letter- headed paper in the Punch of Thursday, February 2, 2012 page 51, and that of Sun on Friday 3, page 13, by the so- called fictitious concerned marketers who are sponsored by IPMAN national body. The signatories are not members of our association. We are not engaging in any press war with anybody in the oil and gas industry as there are avenues in place to address grievances if any,” he added.

The Deputy National Chairman of Petroleum Tanker’s Driver of NUPENG, Mr Salimon Oladiti, said that all its members, both at the national and western zone, had agreed to support the western zones in ensuring that effective petroleum products was duly assigned to the zones without the involvement of the national body.