Major marketers of petroleum products have petitioned the Federal Government over the delay in the settlement of N65bn fuel subsidy debts.
The marketers, including Mobil, Total, MRS, Forte Oil and Conoil, speaking under the aegis of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, said that the delay in the settlement of their subsidy bills had affected their operations.
They stressed that the delay had led them to a point where they could not import petroleum products anymore.
In a letter sent yesterday to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonji-Iwela; the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison- Madueke and Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, Mr. Reginald Stanley, MOMAN urged the Federal Government to clear the outstanding debt.
The association also urged the government to respect the 45 days window for settlement of subsidy bills as agreed upon with the fuel importers.
MOMAN Executive Secretary, Mr. Timothy Olawore, who confirmed the development, stated that the letter was the second to be sent to the authorities on the matter.
"There is a need to point out that it took a long time for the government to make previous payments. So far, only N9.4bn has been paid for 2013, a development which puts a lot of financial burden on our members.
"The implication of the non-payment of our claims is that it is affecting our bottom line and this will lead to a reduction in petrol importation and eventually the downsizing of workers."
Olawore argued that the majors were not out to blackmail the government, noting that the banks were no longer willing to extend credit facilities to enable members import fuel.
He said: "If the banks don't give us the facility, and government is not paying us, what else can we do? Of course importation will stop because our ability to continue with the process has been weakened.
"Also, interest charges have eaten deep into our meagre reserves, and there may be no other option than to start staff rationalisation."
But this could have a negative impact as available data showed that the majors are the second largest importers of petrol, after the NNPC, while the independent marketers complement imports with whatever quantity they could bring in.
The Federal Government had tightened procedures for subsidy payments after a legislative probe last year revealed widespread fraud in the system.
"At the peak of the crisis, government promised to pay us as soon as the probes were over. But it took a long time before they started to pay, and this led to the accumulation," Olawore added.
Also, to check the galloping interest charges, government and the marketers agreed on a 45-day payment schedule from when the claims were compiled to the point of payment.
"But they (government) are not following the 45 days agreement. From January 2011, when the subsidy crisis started till early June, nothing was paid to us until we started making noise and they started paying from mid-June," Olawore said.
Ministry of Finance officials declined to comment on the development.
Also, the PPPRA Executive Secretary could not be contacted as his line was not available; but a source in the agency stated that PPPRA was not the cause of the delay.
He said: "We always ensure that we complete our verification within the stipulated time. It is not our direct responsibility to pay fuel importers."
Investigations showed that the independent marketers had also complained about the inability of the government to settle their debts, which a source said was also huge.
Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has urged the managements of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, PPMC, and the PPPRA to sustain the steady supply of products.
IPMAN has on its part assured that its members would ensure there is no hitch in the products distribution and retailing chain to consumers in the hinterland in order to discourage artificial scarcity.
National Secretary of the association, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, who said this in a statement yesterday Abuja maintained that, "the National executive Committee of IPMAN is working relentlessly with all its members to sustain the distribution and retailing chain".
Osatuyi noted that the intervention scheme of the PPMC products distribution through Coastal Private Depots Operation has created room for adequate supply of petroleum products.
