FG must pay subsidy arrears to end fuel scarcity – MOMAN

The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria has demanded the payment of arrears of subsidy claims owed its members by the Federal Government between 2013 and 2015.

MOMAN also called for continuation of the subsidy regime to ease the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) so as to meet local demand.

The Executive Secretary of the association, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, made this known when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts in Abuja on Tuesday as part of the probe into the alleged illegal payment of subsidy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

The MOMAN boss decried the non-payment of the arrears by the government, which he claimed had incapacitated fuel marketers who could no longer import the product into the country.

Though the MOMAN boss did not state the actual amount owed the marketers, he maintained that paying the money would enable them to resume the importation of fuel into the country.

Olawore said, “Our members are incapacitated and cannot import fuel due to non-payment of the arrears and interests. The banks are always adding their interests at the end of every month.

“We had a promise from the Central Bank of Nigeria that the aspect of interests would be stopped at a certain period of 2017 but that did not come to pass. So, the banks, at the end of every month, are charging interests.”

According to him, two out of six major marketers imported fuel into the country in 2017 to cover some specific customer needs.

“These are mainly those that have their foreign affiliates who could cover them in terms of dollar coverage,” he added.

But his presentation did not go down well with members of the committee, while the NNPC alleged that oil marketers abandoned the importation of petrol because of the losses they incurred.

A member of the committee, Senator Dino Melaye, accused the marketers of conniving with the NNPC to defraud the Federal Government and Nigerians.

Senator Bassey Akpan chided the MOMAN boss for trying to mislead the committee into asking the Federal Government to pay more subsidy to banks.

Meanwhile, the Senate at the plenary on Tuesday began investigation into a secret account allegedly opened by the NNPC with a balance of over N31bn.

The lawmakers mandated the Committee on Public Accounts to “carry out a holistic investigation into the operation of this account and report back within four weeks.”