Federal Government yesterday disclosed that it paid oil marketers a total of N320.8 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) in two installments in December, 2014.
The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala made the disclosure while addressing newsmen in Abuja.
Iweala noted that the current situation of fuel scarcity in the country was due to a mix of factors including disruption of pipelines and logistical issues and they are being attended to urgently.
“I want to emphasize that contrary to some unfounded speculations, the queues are not caused by payment issues. As you know, we paid the marketers a total of N320.8 billion from the Excess Crude account in two installments in December last year. This underscores the fact that we are taking payment of marketers very seriously indeed. We’ve been in constant touch and talking with the marketers and a week ago we reached an agreement with them on their core concerns which we have addressed.’’
Speaking further, the Minister disclosed that, ‘we have taken the following steps:’
“We’ve reached an agreement with the marketers union on the N185 billion balance of their payment. As part of this agreement, we are paying not only the costs they’ve incurred and their fees but also interest and forex differentials. DMO has issued SDNs to cover N100 billion out of the N185 billion agreed upon as balance for the next payments. CBN has also given approvals for the banks to issue letters of credit,” she added.
She added that the situation is not entirely out of hand as petroleum products are being distributed to the focal parts of the country in dire straits irrespective of the uncompromising stance of few union members in certain quarters by way of opening LCs to facilitate payments.
‘’It is clear that while the union and most members have been cooperative, some of their members are not. Some of these people have even refused to open LCs to facilitate their payments. We salute the union and the members who are working hard to end this unfortunate situation. As for those who are working in the other direction, Nigerians should ask them what their motives are.
“To end this unfortunate situation as quickly as possible, the Petroleum Ministry and NNPC are taking strong action to improve supplies in this election season. I’ve been speaking with MOMAN and they’ve assured me that they are working hard to increase supplies and more are on the way. 40m litres of product are being distributed in Lagos today. As at yesterday, 86 trucks have come into Lagos and another 86 trucks are heading to Abuja. Other parts of the country are also included in the plans. So the situation should improve soon. Once again, we wish to express our sympathy with Nigerians for this very unsatisfactory situation and salute their patience as we work hard to end the situation as soon as possible,’’ she enthused.