An Independent Petroleum Marketers, Leklaw Global Services Limited on Monday sent a Save Our Soul letter to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), asking that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporate Limited be restrained from introducing a new ex-depot rate over petroleum products already paid for.

The letter cited by BarristerNG was addressed to the Managing Director, NNPC retail with the title A SPECIAL PLEA FOR CONSIDERATION OF UNLOADED PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MARKETERS’ TICKETS BEFORE THE NEW PRICE REGIME.

According to Leklaw’s Lawyers, First Bethel Solicitors, there are “unloaded pending tickets in the NNPCL system since December 2022 and that all efforts to load the ticket proved abortive. By March 2023, there was a new price regime, and” Leklaw “was advised to pay a differential payment of N1,073,000 if its interested in loading the ticket, even though the ticket has accrued debts due to non-servicing of the loan from the Bank,” he paid. “Yet, the ticket was not approved for loading. It will be a great injustice to” him “after payment for a product in December 2022 to be asked to pay a differential again in June 2023.”

The unfortunate part of the whole transaction is the fact that the money invested over a year ago was borrowed from the Banking institution.

They noted “that it had other unloaded tickets in the NNPCL system since March 2023 and that all efforts to load the tickets were proved abortive. The non-supply of the products it paid for had greatly affected its financial standing before the financial institution as its business was rendered nonperforming due to the non-supply of the products by the NNPCL.

The grievance of Leklaw is that “it paid the NNPCL for the supply of petroleum products over a year ago, and the NNPCL failed to supply it with petroleum products. Noting that he ‘borrowed money to finance its business only to end up as a debtor to banks due to the non-supply of the products by the NNPCL.”

BarristerNG gathered that the company made the following payments to the NNPCL.

They lamented that NNPCL has failed to consider that Leklaw “had paid for products at the old rate several months ago without any supply, and it has traded with our client’s money for several months and now wants to sell the products paid for at the old rates for the new rates.”

The appeal reads in part “Your intervention is highly needed because our client is concerned about recovering money to pay for the loans with which it purchased the tickets. The Banks harassed our client for failure to pay back her loans, and this indebtedness to the Banks was caused by the NNPCL, who refused to supply the products after collecting the ex-depot price from our clients.

“With due respect, it is unjust and unfair to ask our client to pay an additional sum of N13,702,500.00 for each of the above payments before our client can be supplied with the product it paid for several months ago.

“Sir, we urge you to intervene by saving the downstream sector from imminent collapse by honouring the contracts your establishment entered with our client before the new ex-depot rates, as insisting on selling at the new ex-depot rate would grossly affect the business of our client, more so, after retaining our client’ money for several months without performing your obligations under the contract.

“We hope you will use your good office to resolve this matter. Attached are the payment receipts for the products our client bought from the NNPCL, which were not supplied to date and now asking to pay at the current rate.”