• Marketers ‘push’ for
rise in pump price
• TUC seeks end to
crisis
AS
the fuel scarcity continues to cripple economic activities nationwide, the Department
of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has attributed the shortfall in supply to non-renewal
of contracts of some independent marketers to import the product.
Meanwhile, the current fuel scarcity in
some parts of the country is principally caused by marketers’ subterranean ploy
to stampede government into increasing the pump price, The Guardian has gathered.
But the government is seeking ways of
ending the artificial scarcity without bowing to pressure from marketers to
increase the pump price.
In a related development, Trade Union
Congress (TUC) has called for an end to the fuel scarcity.
The DPR, which disclosed this yesterday
at its budget defence before the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), also
alleged that non-payment of subsidy fund to the marketers by government had
hindered the importation of the product, resulting in shortage in supply.
In his presentation to the committee,
Director of DPR who was represented by the Zonal Operations Controller, Abuja,
Aliyu Halidu, said that marketers were uncomfortable with the current pump
price of N97 per litre.
According him, the marketers had
complained that the operational cost had seriously eaten into the pump price,
making it difficult for them to break even at the current price.
Halidu also noted that the shortage in
supply of fuel was equally affected by the increased activities of illegal
bunkering in the country.
Consequently, he urged the lawmakers to
expedite action on the process of legalising bunkering, in addition to
resuscitating other laws which could facilitate elimination of illegal
bunkering from the system.
He, however, pointed out that the department
had already forwarded a proposal to the office of the National Security Adviser
(NSA) in respect of legalisation of bunkering to curtail illegal operations,
noting that the NSA assured that the relevant laws would be resuscitated to
help tackle all the problems emanating from illicit bunkering activities.
The zonal controller also implored the
Senate to fast-track the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in order
to help strengthen the DPR's regulatory powers for effective operations in the
industry.
Commenting on the decline in revenue
generation of the Department, Halidu blamed it partly on the failure of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to pay royalties due to DPR.
He explained that rather than pay
royalties to DPR, the Corporation was paying it as part of its crude oil sales,
lamenting that this had contributed to the recession in the revenue earnings of
the establishment.
The
Guardian gathered in Abuja yesterday that the marketers are pushing for
increment in their profit margins as they claimed the N5.50 accrued to them is
no longer enough to settle their overall costs.
The depot price is N91.50 and marketers sell N97 per litre to
the public.
A source said that the claim by marketers about late release
of allocation for fuel importation for first quarter of this year is not
tenable as releasing allocation few days into new quarter has always been the
practice.
He said: “The claim by marketers that first quarter
allocation came late is farther from the truth. The last quarter allocation for
last year (2013) was meant to last till the end of January and the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources approved the allocation on February 20, 2014. That is the
practice. We must not lose sight of the fact that the need to streamline the
import regime is more necessary now than ever because of the discrepancies that
greeted import regime in recent past. The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, has shown that all she wanted is a system that
prioritises transparency and that informed why all the details were taken into
account before the allocation for the first quarter was released. Even at that,
the exercise was done within the correct time-frame.”
The moves by marketers to push for an increment in the pump
price of petrol has been seen as a ploy to induce political tension as the
nation moves towards the 2015 general elections.
A source at the Presidency told The Guardian that government has directed the NNPC to increase
allocation to Lagos and other densely-populated cities with a view to ending
the queues. Also, the DPR is stepping up its fuel monitoring duties, including
the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
A statement by the President of TUC, Bobboi Kaigama and
General Secretary, Musa Lawal, said: “The familiar trend of periodic scarcity of
fuel is simply unacceptable. Nigeria remains about the sixth largest oil
producing country in the world and ‘giant of Africa,’ and one ordinarily
expects this to translate to great fortune and comfort for the average
Nigerian. Unfortunately,
this has not been the case as majority of the masses have remained impoverished
in the midst of plenty. More
depressing are reports that the scarcity is artificially created by the same
cabal that has vowed not to see our ailing refineries work let alone new ones
built.”
Many Lagos residents were forced to stay out of work yesterday
due to the fuel scarcity which has almost crippled commercial activities in the
city.
The Guardian investigation revealed
that very few petrol stations were dispensing fuel in most parts of the city,
as queues stretched as far as the eyes can see.
It was observed that most of only the
major marketers dispensed the products yesterday.
At the Oando filling station along
Shasa Road in Egbeda area of Lagos, it was chaos let loose as it appeared all
the city’s residents came to buy the scarce product petrol that hot afternoon.
The chaotic situation was replicated
across the state as there were indications that the scarcity may get worse this
week as most of the stations exhausted their stock at the weekend.
It was learnt that with the heightening
scarcity, many stations have been making brisk businesses with a litre selling
as much as N150.
In Asaba, Delta State capital, motorists paid as much as N130
for a litre of petrol as only few retail outlets currently sell as most of them
are locked up with the ubiquitous “No Fuel” sign hung at their entrances.
On Nnebisi, Ibusa, Anwai and Summit Roads, only few retail
outlets seem to have the precious fuel which of course they sold at very
exorbitant prices.
While some that had fuel sold for N120 per litre, some sold
for as high as N130 per litre instead of the approved N97 per litre.
As a result of the scarcity, there has been a rise in
transport fares within Asaba as a trip to the Summit Road from Ogbeogonogo
Market presently cost N70 instead of N40.
The Abia State Commissioner for Petroleum and Solid Minerals
Development, Chief Okwubunka Don Ubani, has said that the present fuel scarcity
in the country was artificial. He attributed the scarcity to greed and the
penchant for exploitation and extortion by some marketers.
He said in a statement yesterday that
the NNPC depot at Osisioma Aba has been supplied with fuel and has equally
started sale of same to marketers in the state and environs.
From
Hendrix Oliomogbe (Asaba), Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Collins Olayinka (Abuja), Gordi Udeajah (Umuahia) and Adeniyi Idowu Adunola (Lagos)
