By Patrick Andrew with agency report
Th e Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) is piqued that the federal government is yet to pay the outstanding N720bn subsidy claims and has subsequently demanded immediate payment of the debts. Th e association said its members need the money immediately to import petroleum products and thus avert possible scarcity in the country as well as meet their obligations to the banks that had advanced them credit facilities for the importation of petroleum products.
Besides, the association is apprehensive of a possible takeover of its members’ businesses by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), which is currently managing some banks that had distressed. Blueprint newspapers recall that the federal government had authorised the Debt Management Offi ce to pay claims from major oil on subsidy less tax liability in May, last year and made further payment towards the end of year. Accordingly, the “gross total outstanding subsidy claims accruable to the oil marketers for 2015 stood at N48, 207, 176, 262.44,” the Minister of Finance, Mrs Femi Adeosun said then. But the minister also acknowledged that there was still some outstanding amount to be settled by the government promising that the debts would be settled soonest.
Yesterday, the Executive Secretary of the association, Obafemi Olawore, said it was time the government stepped in with the outstanding debts to relief its members of the excruciating debt burden. Some three days ago, some oil marketers had appealed to the federal government to pay their outstanding debts of $2 billion (about N720 billion) owed on importation of petrol products and the accrued interests on bank loans. Mr. Olawore said that the immediate payment of the accumulated subsidy claims would salvage the banks from total collapse over the huge debts owed them by marketers.
According to him, the delay in repayment of the loan debts owed the banks by marketers had led to retrenchment in the banking and the oil and gas sectors. “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. “Th e debts had imparted grossly on marketers, while only very few marketers are presently importing insignifi cant quantity of petroleum products into the country,’’ he said adding the plea was to avert the scarcity of petroleum products in the country. Th e executive secretary said that inability of the marketers to import fuel had impacted negatively on loading activities at the Apapa and Dockyard private depots.
Mr. Olawore said that the NNPC had become the sole importer of petroleum products, while marketers were queuing to get the products on credit. He said that the federal government paid over N300 million daily as fuel subsidy. Mr. Olawore said that anytime there was problem in the banking sector, it was always traced to the oil sector, because of the unpaid loans collected by marketers borrowed. “Once we (marketers)
are unable to pay, the banks will have problems,” he said adding that some banks might be having problem with their correspondence banks abroad due to the unpaid loans. “Th is can have negative eff ects on the fi nancial sector’s stability, which is not good for the economy. A situation where the banks are being owed N800 billion constitute major threat to the continuous existence of the sector,” he said
