In its bid to address fuel scarcity experienced across the country, the Federal Government has approved and released supplementary first quarter, as well as second quarter allocations for the importation of Premium Motor Spirit by oil marketers.
The approval was given by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, in a statement which was signed by its spokesperson, Mr. Lanre Oladele, said the approval was widely applauded by stakeholders as it caught most of them by surprise.
According to PPPRA, the approval was announced during the week.
Confirming the ministerial pronouncement, a PPPRA source said the approval was to further assist in providing additional imports to supplement the current level of importation into the system.
This, the source said was with the aim of improving the national PMS supply situation and stock build-up.
An oil marketer observed that this was the first time such an approval would be done way-ahead of any anticipated quarterly allocation.
The marketer who pleaded not to be named, said the gesture would enable all importers ample time to conclude their purchases and also bring same into the Nigerian market.
PPPRA commended the minister and charged marketers to take advantage of both the first quarter supplementary PMS allocation, as well as the early release of the second quarter allocation to bring in their products.
The agency, in the statement, promised to ensure prompt processing of documents for all imported products.
Nigeria has been faced with fuel scarcity for months. Marketers had blamed the development on the non-release of fuel import allocation by the Federal Government, as well as the delay in the payment of subsidy claims.
