•As FG,
NNPC, MOMAN, DAPPMA, IPMAN meeting deadlocks •Kachikwu holds another engagement
today
ABUJA—THERE
are indications that the persistent fuel scarcity in the country may take a
long time to end as a meeting involving the Federal Government, Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, Department of Petroleum Resources, Major
Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, Independent Petroleum Marketers
Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, ended with no clear road-map.
But the
major players in the oil industry yesterday, attributed the fuel scarcity in
different parts of the country to the increase in crude oil price at the
international market and the removal of subsidy. This came as the Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has said that no single marketer has been
identified as being behind the fuel scarcity that has brought untold hardship
to Nigerians during the Yuletide Meanwhile, a source at the meeting told Vanguard that the issue of subsidy removal was not
discussed at yesterday’s meeting, as a
sub-committee set up at the meeting was directed to find an immediate solution
to the fuel crisis, while the committee is to meet today. A source at the
meeting hinted Vanguard that President Muhammadu Buhari had ruled out any fuel
price increment and payment of subsidy to marketers. The sources added that
local refining dominated yesterday meeting, while marketers it was learned
asked for the payment of the outstanding N800billion debt, owed them by the
Federal Government. Briefing State House correspondents after a meeting between
the oil stakeholders and government representatives on the instance of the
Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, Chairman of Depot and Petroleum
Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPPMA, Dapo Abiodun explained that
marketers were finding it difficult to import the petroleum products because of
the increase in the price of crude. He said: “Today’s meeting was called at the
instance of the Chief of Staff to the President and it was to find out exactly
what happened, where we had the problems we had in December with the supply of
petrol and how Nigerians were made to go through the pains and suffering.
“He wanted to know the truth and to ensure that going
forward, this problem will be solved once and for all. And that is why you saw
that we sat in here from 2pm and the meeting just finished after three and half
hours. “A lot of issues were raised and a committee was constituted that will
be meeting tomorrow (today) under the chairmanship of the Minister of State,
Petroleum to further ensure that these problems do not reoccur. “From our point
of view as marketers, we made our submission known to government and we emphasized
the fact that this was not a marketer-related problem. There was no hoarding on
the part of any marketer. “Marketers are your brothers, they are Nigerian
citizens, they are businessmen, no marketer makes money from hoarding petroleum
products, our business is to take petrol and sell. “We explained that the
problem that you saw is not wilful on the part of anyone either NNPC or
marketers. The situation from our point of view is that from January to
December, the price of crude remained relatively stable. Following the
hurricane Katrina in the month of September, October, crude prices went up and
marketers lost the ability to import and sell at N145 per litre. “In the past,
marketers bring in about 60% while NNPC brings about 35 to 40 per cent. But by
the month of October, marketers completely stopped importing because there was
no more subsidy, so we can’t sell for profit and we have to stop importing. The
burden of importing 100% now fell on NNPC. “You can imagine a situation where
NNPC was importing in part and marketers were importing in part and then
suddenly NNPC begins to import 100%. “NNPC is suddenly finding itself importing
what they probably didn’t expect in terms of volume and the fact that Nigerians
are consuming more volume that they will normally consume in earlier months.
“Coupled with the fact that the countries that are surrounding us as a nation
are all selling fuel at more than $1 per litre. $1 today is about N360. If you
go to Cotonou, Ghana, Niger so it’s not unlikely that some of our petrol is
finding itself across the body to these countries. “All these are issues we
believe amounted to what we saw in December but thankfully NNPC rose to the
occasion, they stepped up import, stepped up supplies. That situation has since
normalized. “Today’s meeting is to ensure that this does not happen again and
this we are going to continue tomorrow in the committee that was set up under
the chairmanship of the Minister of State for Petroleum to ensure that we find
a long-lasting and enduring solution to this problem so that Nigerians will not
have to go through this borrowing situation again.” On whether the issue of
subsidy which was the core of the problem was discussed at the meeting, he
said, “Well, like I said to you there is no subsidy at the moment. The
government in its wisdom has decided that the N145 cap will remain because of
what they consider will be the consequences on Nigerians. “This is a government
of the people and they believe Nigerians should not be made to buy fuel for
more than N145. So if that is to remain then we have to find other ways to
manage the situation so that we will continue to sell fuel at N145. “As far as
we are concerned there is no subsidy in the budget; as far as we are concerned
marketers cannot import and sell at N145. So government has to find a way and
ensure that marketers themselves importing alongside NNPC and still sell at
N145. So when we meet with the minister tomorrow we will find solution to see
how that can be sustained. “The Minister also said no marketer has been
prosecuted in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive because there
has not been any evidence of culpability on any of them.” The Minister of State
for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu said the whole idea of the meeting was to do a centric
analysis of what really went wrong. He said “Like you know for over two years
we have been out of this problem, it’s been working well, NNPC has been
managing it properly and suddenly there was this gap. “So they wanted us to put
heads together to find out what went wrong. It’s not a fault finding meeting;
it’s about how we take corrective measures to avoid that and what are the
things that are creating difficulties in the system. “Because fuel scarcity has
been ever lingering 30, 40 year old thing and I think it is to the credit of
Mr. President and his government over the last two years that we haven’t had
any of this through his policy that he has enunciated. “So that was the
objective of today’s meeting. Everybody gave ideas, everybody was collaboratively
finding solutions. “The GMD started by presenting what the scenario was. At
least for now it has taken away the fuel queues that you see. We then dug into
the long-term solutions and everybody contributed.
“We set up a committee which
I will head. Members include the GMD, most of the parastatals in the ministry,
DAPMAN, IPMAN, NOMAN, Labour unions, and we are to meet in my office tomorrow
and dig deeper into this thing and find a long term solution.
“This is a major
concern that Nigerians should not be made to suffer, that Nigerians do not get
through the kind of thing they went through this December. We want to find
lasting solution and that is what the committee will come out with in the
resolutions tomorrow.” When asked
whether all the erring marketers during the dark period were found and
sanctioned, he said, “The thing is even the Nigerians who have suffered. We
will want to be sure that we find a lasting solution and find evidential basis
upon which to punish people. This is a democratic government.” While answering
another question if there was no evidence with all the things Nigerians went
through, he said, “I don’t have one yet if you have one I will like to have
it.”
On the statement by the president that those responsible for the scarcity
were largely blackmailers, the Minister said, “I feel your pain, we share in
those pains but we are going to find lasting solution. they are people who are
culprits they will be identified, in fact the chief of staff instructed that
specific names should be put on the table, those who have gone against the
rule, done certain things that are against the book should be punished. But the
greatest difficulty in Nigeria is that people make allegations, and when you
then ask for evidence,
everybody now goes back into the safety nets. “You
cannot prosecute except you have evidence; I’m 30 years old as a lawyer. So we
will need to find that evidence, we will definitely punish those who did things
that are wrong, but more fundamental and more importantly is that we want to
find lasting solutions and we all want to work more collaboratively.” Marketers
need to be back in business — IPMAN
The Board of Trustee Chairman of IPMAN, Aminu Abdulkadir who commented on subsidy
said: “I think there is a meeting that is coming on tomorrow by 10 am at the
minister’s office.
I think full disclosure will be made on plans and ways of
augmenting marketers’ shortfall so that marketers can come back to business.
“Because if marketers are in the business, NNPC will be augmented. Because what
has happened today is that because NNPC was left alone and it will not be easy
for them to manage all the depots, the trucks, the stations. “Because it will
not be easy for them to manage them. So its a business for all. Before this time
NNPC was doing 60 and marketers were doing 40 percent. In fact there was a time
NNPC was doing 40 and matters 60 per cent. But today NNPC is zero. National
President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN
President Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo said: “We are glad with the promise of the
Chief of Staff at the meeting. With what we have heard today from the meeting,
Nigerians should go home and be glad because the issues of constant fuel supply
have been resolved. “The issue apparently, by tomorrow will be resolved as a
committee will be set up to ensure that the Major Marketers, the Independent
marketers and all those that are supposed to be bringing in the products will
contribute. This will solve this problem once and for all. They have also
assured that the refineries are coming on stream with installed capacity. This
is cherry news. Situation report in Lagos The Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, said that
fuel queues noticeable in parts of the country days back have all disappeared.
The NNPC helmsman stated that the country has over thirty days sufficiency of
the product. “We have a Presidential directive that if we catch any marketer
hoarding products or selling above the approved pump price we should dispense
the products to the public free and that directive still holds. “Therefore,
those marketers that are still hoarding products in their stations should be
aware that if they are caFught by the regulatory agency of the Department of
Petroleum Resources, DPR and of course, the law enforcement agencies, they
stand the chance of losing their products to the public.” But Vanguard’s investigations showed
that fuel scarcity has not yet been completely tackled in Lagos and other parts
of the nation. Our correspondents who went round noticed that many filling
stations in Lagos and its environs did not have the product yesterday.
Consequently, many filling stations were still closed to motorists and other
users of the product in the state while some of the major marketers that had
the product sold it at between N200 and N300 per litre. Ondo state In Ondo
state, the product went for as high as between N200 and N250 per litre
yesterday. None of the major marketers across the state had dispensed the
product since the scarcity started before the last Christmas. Consequently,
transport fares remained high across the state following the increase in the
pump price of the product. One of the owners of the stations who preferred not
to be named said that the landing cost was N180 per litre, thus justifying the
N230 per litre price of the product at his station. Akwa Ibom Despite the
availability of fuel in Akwa Ibom state, the independent marketers were still
dispensing the product at exorbitant pump price of N200 in the New Year. Reason
for the hike in price of the product remain unchanged as dealers still blamed
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, for not duly supplying them
PMS. A manager with Rain Oil Company Limited located on Atiku Abubakar Way in
Uyo, who refused to be named said, though they have reverted their price to
N180 per litre, the depots owners are to be blamed for the continued increase
in pump price as they sale the product higher than they used to buy. This situation
is different from what the major marketers are selling in the state, as most
motorists have decided to patronize service stations like NNPC Mega Stations,
Total and Mobil, who are selling at N143 per litre.
Vanguardngr
0 Comments