The major players behind the fuel scarcity in Nigeria

by Kolapo Olapoju

Just before the oil marketers are labelled evil for withholding fuel from the reach of Nigerians, it is imperative to have a proper perspective and background of why the subsidy payment has to be made and why the marketers are hellbent on receiving their money before making available petrol products.

In the international market, regardless of what the actual price for PMS is, it will be sold at N97 in the country, while the government pays the balance to marketers- this balance is the subsidy payment.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, created a template to calculate on a daily basis the landed price of regulated products, which formed the basis of subsidy claims made by participants under the Petroleum Support Fund.

While Nigerians wallow in bleak darkness, caused by epileptic electricity and a chronic fuel scarcity, the major players in the centre of the debacle are the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN).

A disagreement over the payment of ‘exchange rate differentials’ is responsible for their inability to arrive at an accord, settle the payments and lift fuel for Nigerians and ease the pain of the masses.

Okonjo-Iweala has vehemently vowed not to pay oil marketers their subsidy claims, accusing them of presenting fraudulent claims with various exchange rates.

The marketers, importers and storage companies insist that the federal government was owing them more than N200 billion in subsidy payments.

The Executive Secretary, MOMAN, Thomas Olawore, recently told Bloomberg that members of the body which include Total SA, Oando Plc, Forte Oil Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp’s local unit, are owed about 40 per cent of the N200 billion.

However, Okonjo-Iweala, insists that a few weeks ago, the marketers were paid N154 billion as part of their subsidy claims, only for them to return with a request of N159 billion for exchange rate differentials from their outstanding N200 billion claim.

She said they reached an agreement to lift fuel after the first payment, but the marketers reneged on their deal.

“Marketers were asking for N159 billion for exchange rate differentials from the outstanding N200 billion. There has been so much fraud and scam so I have refused to sign for that money but have agreed that a committee be set up involving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to verify marketers’ claims.

Marketers just want to make Nigerians suffer. I will not pay the N159 billion without verification, Nigerians should not allow themselves to be blackmailed. I will not pay the N159 billion without verification, Nigerians should not allow themselves to be blackmailed.”

“The marketers wanted me (Minister) to sign the claim for the payment of N159 billion and I said no, because Nigerian​s​ don’t ​know ​what is exchange rate differential. We had to call those agencies responsible to verify those claims in view of the fact that there has been so much fraud and manipulations in the claims by oil marketers​. We have to be very careful, so that Nigerians would not accuse us of giving away their money for something that was not real.”

“It is the demonstration of the highest sense of bad faith that after we had an agreement during the meeting and they said everything had been settled, only for the marketers to turn around the very next day to say a complete opposite thing​.​ They next day they shut down all the filling stations, except few of them who opened to sell. What does that tell you?

My conclusion is that the marketers just want Nigerians to suffer. Anyone who thinks that this whole thing has to do with the money being owed is not being truthful.

If it was so, the marketers would have waited for the verification to be completed. It is wrong to shut down their stations and depots a day after reaching an agreement with government just to make a lot money from the black market. Nigerians should not be blackmailed. Nigerians should not allow themselves to be blackmailed by the oil marketers.”

Owing to the complexity and gravity of their demand, she said it was agreed that a commitee should be set up to verify the claims before payment was made.

The committee is headed by the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Farouk Ahmed, with the Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo, as well as two Directors-General from the Ministry as members.

fuel

While all these ensues, the Senate has invited the Finance Minister/Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and her counterpart in the Petroleum Resources Ministry, Dieziani Allison-Madueke, to appear before the joint senate committees probing the current fuel crisis.

Up until now, the ministers have allegedly evaded the service of the senate summons when the documents were taken to their offices.

The joint committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream), had on Friday, invited the two ministers, alongside the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; Managing Director of the Pipelines and Petroleum Marketing Company; Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources; Managing Director of Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency; for a meeting slated for Monday.

A member of the joint senate committee had on Friday revealed the following to Punch Newspaper:

“With the refusal of the ministry officials to collect the letters, the meeting scheduled for Monday is now uncertain.”

“All our efforts to deliver letters from the Senate to the Finance Minister, the Petroleum Minister, GMD of NNPC and the MD of DPR were unsuccessful largely due to the ongoing strike in the oil and gas industry as staff locked up their premises. At the Ministry of Finance, our staff was told that the minister was not around and they vehemently refused to collect any mail from us. The same thing happened at the petroleum resources.”

As it stands, unless the Ministers, one of whom has travelled out of Nigeria, attend the joint hearing on Monday, the Senate cannot ascertain the full picture of the true state of things and therefore, cannot really act on the matter.

Unless the federal government pays the outstanding subsidy payment to the marketers, they will not be able to receive letters of credit from the banks, so as to lift fuel.

Unless the committee set up by Okonjo-Iweala completes its verification of the oil marketers’ demand of exchange rate differentials, a resolution cannot be arrived at, and consequently, fuel will continue to be scarce to the Nigerian masses.

As it stands, one party (between the banks, marketers, federal government) has to shift ground for the scarcity to stop, else there won’t be a resolution for the next  few days and darkness in the land will persist.

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