The scarcity of petrol across the country may continue for a while as major oil marketers on Sunday said they had not received any assurance from the Federal Government that their subsidy claims would be paid.
As a result, the marketers stated that they were not going to import the product as they used to unless they extracted some commitment from the government that it would clear the outstanding subsidy claims, currently put at over N290bn.
About two weeks ago, it was reported that the Federal Government had agreed to pay the outstanding subsidy claims of N159bn to the marketers, who import refined petroleum products into the country, although some of the marketers said the debt had climbed to N300bn.
“The government agreed to pay the remaining balance last week. Nothing has come yet. It is N159bn,” the spokesperson for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Yakubu Suleiman, had said.
But speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, said that MOMAN was not aware of any commitment by the government to pay the outstanding subsidy claims.
MOMAN consists of major petrol companies, including Total, Conoil, Oando, Mobil, Forte Oil and MRS.
Asked if the members had started receiving their claims from the government based on the promise, Olawore said, “I have not heard that the government will commence payment. I have not heard that; I am hearing that from you and I am glad that you people (journalists) are telling us.”
When our correspondent reminded him that it was published in the newspapers that the government had agreed to pay the marketers, Olawore quipped, “Who said it? And how can the spokesperson for IPMAN say that? Let’s hear from the government. We must hear from the government.
“We have not heard that; IPMAN may have heard it, but I want to hear it from the government. That is the position of the majors.”
On whether the major marketers had resumed petrol importation, he stated that they never stopped but rather reduced the volume of the product being brought into the country.
Olawore explained that the major marketers were ready and would resume full importation once they got their subsidy claims, stressing that petrol scarcity was still being felt across the country because the only major importer, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, was finding it tough to meet the demand.
He added, “We have not stopped importation. We are only finding it difficult to import massively as before. So, if the government is going to pay, then you will start seeing large volume of importation.
“The NNPC is the largest importer for now, not always. But for now, it is the largest because the NNPC is part of the government; but what it is importing is not enough and that is why you are seeing queues everywhere. Now that you are telling me that the government has told someone that they will pay, we hope the preparation will not take too long. We are waiting.” Punch
