Oil marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Products Importers have said they owe some Nigerian banks over $1bn used for the importation of petroleum products, with accumulated interest of N160bn.
They said the interest had accumulated because the government could not pay them or pay the banks’ interest on the loans as agreed, adding that the inability to pay or service the loans had stalled the importation of fuel.
The IPPI, in a communiqué signed by its Legal Adviser, Mr. Patrick Etim, after a meeting in Lagos, stated that some of the marketers, which included members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, had begun to close shops due to the indebtedness.
According to the communiqué, the marketers are unable to pay because the sums they owe the banks form part of what they are in turn owed by the government. It stated that the government’s debt arose from the petrol subsidy scheme whereby the Federal Government entered into a contract with the IPPI mandating the members to import and supply petrol to the market on condition that it would pay to the body the difference between the landing cost of and pump price as fixed by the government, provided that the landing cost was higher than the selling price.
It said, “When the selling price of petrol was increased from N97 to N145 per litre in May 2016, it was based on an exchange rate of N285/$1, resulting in a 45 per cent increase. On June 20, 2016, the naira was devalued from N285/$1 to N305/$1, which is an increase of seven per cent, but the fixed pump selling price of petrol has not been increased. This means that petrol must be subsidised.
(Punch)
No comments:
Post a Comment