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Marketers insist on payment of outstanding subsidy

By Lucky Orioha
19 May 2015   |   1:23 am
Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria and Depot Petroleum Products Marketers Association have called on the Federal Government to offset the outstanding subsidy claims to enable them import pertrol.

FUELOil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), and Depot Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DPPMA), have called on the Federal Government to offset the outstanding subsidy claims to enable them import Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Specifically, the association said that the current fuel scarcity in the country might persist till the end of the month, if the Federal Government failed to pay their outstanding claims on subsidy.

The Executive Secretary MOMAN, Obafemi Olawore, said at a media briefing in Lagos last week that the outstanding payment on subsidy and interest remained unpaid by government and this had led to its members’ inability to import petroleum products in the last few days.

According to him, the scarcity may also persist beyond the hand over date that will usher in a new political administration of Gen Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).

“Because of the huge outstanding that we have; because we have not been able to pay back the loan we have taken, because our suppliers are not too confident, we are unable to bring fresh import.
“Whatever we have now is what we have received from NNPC and it is the small quantity that we have from NNPC, that is why you see all the trucks in Lagos scrambling for them.

The Executive Secretary DAPPMA, Olufemi Adewole, also said the Federal Government owed its members more than N200 billion.

He said that out of its 40 members, only 24 participate in the subsidy programme, adding that all its members had been paid subsidy while only six out of 24 had been paid their interest.

8 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Let them go to hell; let Buhari administration stop paying any subsidy payment henceforth. They’ve had their days in years past; both fictitious and dubious payments. Let us all show the change we wanted is to help the new government that we are ready to do our part. We will buy any fuel at any prize; use subsidy money for infrastructure; transportation like light rails; subway; good bus systems. Create industries that will employ thousands of our people; especially agricultural industry. Let us do away with these fat cats who has no visions or strategy of development for their country. What have they done with all these looted money in times past. An oil producing country importing fuel for decades; Lord we have no shame in this country. I hope these marketers will have their days in court soon for great economic crimes.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Painful as it may be the time has come to call the bluff of the oil cartels. For to long millions of Nigerians have been subjected to incredibly untold hardships from the oil cartels. Despite the billions they collect as subsidy, petrol is never available at the controlled price except in large cities. Let them drink their oil and we will bear the pains until an alternate arrangement is made for a better oil distribution regime, the current system is just too unreliable and expensive. Theey collect the subsides, divert the products or simply short supply Nigerians and still hold the nation to Ransom over their unverifiable claims of subsidy arrived at by connivance from the very public servants paid from the public treasury to ensure a proper supply, we have had enough of this please.

    • Author’s gravatar

      God Bless you Maigari – you echo my thoughts on this one. Furthermore we should look at ways to obtain refund back to the treasury for this drain on the common man to fund the excesses of the over-bloated leechers that have gone on for far too long.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Maigari, it appears you have struck a chord that resonates with everyone. Let us wait it out, almost like sweating out a fever and disease, temporarily unpleasant but eventually we will be cleansed and free. I feel bad for any decent oil marketer but the masses have suffered enough . The era of being held to ransom is over.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Buhari, please do not pay these fraudsters! As soon as you are sworn in, mandate the NNPC to embark on direct importation of products while you get the original manufacturers of the nation´s refineries to do the turn around maintenance to raise their capacities to at least 90% of their installed capacity. The subsidy remain a fraud and any petroleum product still in the tank farms in Apapa when you take over should attract custom charges should the importers wish to take them out of the country to sell elsewhere.

  • Author’s gravatar

    well it appears the current administration is calling their bluff and the incoming administration would most likely not continue to waste nigeria money. now is the time to completely kill this looting of nigeria and the constant blackmailing of our people. this can be solve by NNPC flooding the market with fuel, evben if they sell at 140-180 naira. that would be much better for nigerians thank allowing this marketers to continue to loot the nation. ngerians should rise up and say no more looting of our money. we would pay market rate and work towards ending importation of fuel.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Killing corruption before it kills Nigeria starts from killing the cabal of risk-less business managers a.k.a rent seekers or PPMA and DOPMA. As HRH SLS said when he was governor of central bank, any idiot can make money in this risk-less business. It is plain wrong from national security standpoint to hand over into the hands of a few private hands the monopoly to import PMS while at the same time paying them for all their costs, including fake demurrage, and guaranteeing them a profit margin, even as they inflate through fowl means what they import and divert some to neighboring countries to sell at the market rate there. It is wrong because the program is a government program outsourced to cronies. We the people demand that this scam should not only be stopped immediately, a forensic analysis should be done to determine the refund of whatever need to be paid back into the treasury of the federal republic (It is plain evil that we have been borrowing money to give to these rent seekers, even, as we can’t pay salaries, build infrastructures and pave the roads for the vehicles) – this should be done in concert with the speedy re-organization of the armed forces, so we are sure they do not pay some idiot to shoot their way to power. May God help Nigerians as we all do the needful to work with the new administration to rid ourselves of parasites so we would have the strength to actualize the promise of democracy and rule of law for all Nigerians.

    The solution is to bring back what worked before when GMB was in charge of the Petroleum Ministry and also when he was head of state – make an open & competitive bid to conglomerates for the operations of the refineries + crude oil arrangement to refine (offshore) and bring back PMS to Nigeria – while at the same time developing the local capability, throttling down the amount brought as local sourcing is improved. Because of guaranteed market, we should be able to get a very good price – using the negotiation approach of walmart (an American wholesaler that guarantees every day low price and because of volume could exact very low price from manufacturers worldwide). With known cost from the well head to the pump, we should be able to put a modest tax on it (revenue for transportation trust fund – similar to the petroleum trust fund of former years – every western democracy has such provisions) and still do very well for the people. The current situation where individuals claim to borrow Nigeria money with interest to import the fuel, are paid for their service of importing the fuel (with all the corruption it entails), then given the monopoly to exact tax from the people on the same fuel by gaming distribution of it is not only wrong, it is impunity on steroids.

    Overall Goal of handing PMS in Nigeria should be to make Nigeria net exporter of PMS in 4 years. This is a national security issue that should be pursued with utmost urgency, similar with the urgency of revamping our power grid (+ increasing the generation capacity), another national security issue. So help us God.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Yoruba will destroy NGR