Indebtedness: Oil marketers warn Okonjo-Iweala of fuel scarcity

Major oil marketers have warned that fuel
scarcity may linger for a while as the federal
government has not paid what it owes
marketers who imported fuel into the
country.



Oil marketers under the auspices of Major Oil
Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN)
have decried the government’s inability to
disburse the outstanding payments due to its
members for the import of Premium Motor
Spirit (PMS) under the Petroleum Subsidy
Fund Scheme (the “Scheme”).
In a letter addressed to the Honourable
Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister of
the Economy Dr Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
the association through its Executive
Secretary, Mr Thomas Olawore, stated that
despite previous assurances from the
government to reimburse marketers the
Under Recovery due to them as verified by
the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory
Agency (PPPRA), the government has till
date failed to honour its agreement.
The letter reads in part, “At the previous
meeting, you empathised with the marketers
and committed to full restitution provided
these were verified by the Petroleum Product
Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). You
also assured marketers that they would be
fully reimbursed for the interest (incurred due
to the late payment) and foreign exchange
(Forex) differential elements of their Under
Recovery within thirty (30) days of the
meeting.
“Furthermore, you committed to immediately
issuing Sovereign Debt Notes (SDNs) for the
outstanding Under Recovery with full
payment on or before April 28, 2015.
“Regrettably, despite your above
commitment and assurances, the industry to
date has only received approximately N 30
billion in Forex differential claims out of the
N 100 billion owed. In the same vein, only
N 345 billion has been received in core
subsidy payments covering payments up to
Q2, 2014.
“Specifically only 3 companies out of the 6
MOMAN companies received payments for
Forex differentials and no company, MOMAN
or DAPPMA (Depot and Petroleum Products
Marketing Association) has been paid
interest charges on delayed payments.”
The letter noted that as at March 31, 2015,
the total amount due to the marketers based
on all claims verified by the PPPRA is in the
region of N270 billion but revealed that only
N200 billion was earmarked for them in the
2015 budget, this according to MOMAN
constituted a “great cause of concern” for her
members.
Similarly, MOMAN enumerated that the
delays in the payment of the verified sums
has ensured the marketers cannot fulfil their
financial and non-financial obligations,
notwithstanding this, they have continuously
supplied adequate petroleum products into
the country especially during the just
concluded general elections