Scarcity looms as oil marketers urge FG to pay outstanding N720bn fuel subsidy claims
There are anxieties that the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) may be running out of patience on backlog of subsidy claims as it appealed to the Federal Government to pay the outstanding fuel subsidy claims to its members to pay back their bank loans.
In Nigeria, whenever marketers get tired of appeals to the government on their demand, their response is usually a disruption that will lead to scarcity.
Giving graphic details of their challenges in Lagos on Wednesday, the Executive Secretary of the association, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, recalled that his group had on June 18 appealed to the Federal Government to pay their outstanding debts of two billion dollars (N720 billion) owed on importation of petrol products and the accrued interests on bank loans.
He said the immediate payment of the accumulated subsidy claims would salvage the banks from total collapse over the huge debts owed them by marketers, noting that further delays in repayment of the loan debts owed the banks by marketers had led to retrenchment in the banking and the oil and gas sectors. He added that it may further cause scarcity.
According to him, “We (marketers) are afraid that if the money is not paid on time, this may attract the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to take over our businesses.
“The debts had imparted grossly on marketers, while only very few marketers are presently importing insignificant quantity of petroleum products into the country,” stressing that the inability of the marketers to import fuel had impacted negatively on loading activities at the Apapa and Dockyard private depots.
He revealed that currently, the NNPC had become the sole importer of petroleum products, while marketers were queuing to get the products on credit.
