Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Petroleum products marketers are scheduled to meet the Minister of
Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday to reconcile claims over
outstanding fuel subsidy bill not yet paid by the Federal Government.
The marketers, made up of the Major Oil Marketers Association (MOMAN)
and the Depot & Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA)
say after paying N154 billion on Thursday, the government still has an
outstanding subsidy of N200 billion to them.
The federal government on its part, said the outstanding payment due
to the marketers based on weekly data by Petroleum Products Pricing
Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) template cannot be more than N131 billion,
from the initial N98 billion.
MOMAN consists the six major oil marketing firms, including Oando,
Conoil, Forte Oil, MRS, Total and Mobil Oil, while DAPPMA consists
independent products marketers who own fuel depots, storage and
marketing facilities in the country.
On Thursday last week, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala had announced at the end of
the Federal Executive Council that the government had approved the
immediate disbursement N156 billion to the marketers.
The payment was part of the government’s efforts to restore normalcy
in fuel supply following the decision of the National Association of
Road Transport Owners (NARTO) to withdraw their services to MOMAN over
alleged N21 billion debts.
NARTO is the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers
(NUPENG) affiliate body responsible for the transportation of the
petroleum products from the depots to the various retail outlets across
the country.
MOMAN had said its members would not be able to settle their
obligations to NARTO till government settled its outstanding debt that
accumulated since December 2013.
Despite the Minister’s claim of payment of N156 billion to the
marketers, the Executive Secretary, of DAPPMA, Odufemi Adewole, told
PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview on Monday that none of its
members had confirmed receiving payments.
“Up till now (Monday morning), none of my members have confirmed
receiving their money”, Mr. Adewole said. “Some marketers were at the
CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) till about 7 p.m. on Thursday (last week),
nobody got a kobo.
“Apart from the fact that most marketers have not received what the
government said it had paid, we are going to press for the payment of
the balance of N200 billion.”
The Executive Secretary of MOMAN, Obafemi Olawore, told reporters in
Lagos that some of its members received payment N154 billion, not N156
billion.
Mr. Olawore corroborated his DAPPMA counterpart’s claim that
government was still having an outstanding payment of about N200 billion
to make to the marketers.
The total amount, the DAPPMA scribe explained, included Foreign
Exchange differential and interest (N215.9 billion); Batch T14 subsidy
payment (N21.9 billion); Batch U14 payment (N8.6 billion); Batch A15
payment (N6.9 billion) and Batch B15 payment (N2.9 billion) as well as
posted dated sovereign debt note (SDN) that fell due on April 30 (N98.2
billion).
Mr. Adewole said what marketers expect from the government was for a
post-dated SDN to be issued covering the period till the end of the May,
as nobody was sure the incoming administration would honour such
payments when it assumes office.
“The Minister has called us to Lagos, Abuja and everywhere for a
meeting, but nothing appears to be coming out. We are being invited to
Abuja again today (Monday). But, we need to let everybody know what is
going on.
“We are sounding this note of warning now that we are not paid, so
that everybody should be ready for job losses in the industry, because
the marketers would downsize. That is the next inevitable option, which
nobody wants.
“This money does not belong to us. A big chunk of it belongs to the
banks. Let the government give the marketers on time for them to return
to the banks,” Mr. Adewole said.
Mr. Olawore had also warned that marketers have already given the
government a two-week ultimatum to pay the remaining N200 billion
outstanding debt, or risk the withdrawal of their services.
However, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala had on Sunday faulted the marketers
claims, saying after the latest payment of N156 billion, in addition to
N31 billion paid earlier as exchange rate differentials, the outstanding
balance was N98 billion.
“Since we made the announcement last week, the outstanding payment
has now risen from N98 billion to N131 billion,” the Minister said,
wondering why the marketers would be demanding N200 billion.
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