Banks and other lenders would soon begin to recall their loans and collateral from fuel marketers as their debts and interests have hit N230 billion, New Telegraph has learnt. The development emerged on a day marketers declared that their subsidy claims from the government is now N291.7 billion, alleging that the Federal Government’s delay in subsidy payment may soon run many of them out of business. New Telegraph gathered at the weekend that some lenders have already written letters notifying the marketers of plans to recall their cash if commitment of payment is not established within a given period.
The cumulative loan for fuel importation is now about N230 billion, the chief executive officer of one of the fuel trading companies said, adding that lenders have told some marketers that certain “actions may be taken to recall their cash, especially now that hope of payment lingers, while interest continues to accumulate.”
Nigeria, one of Africa’s top producers of crude oil, subsidises gasoline and other fuels. The country must import the bulk of the 40 million litres a day that it consumes owing to a neglected refining system. Executive Secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers’ Association (DAPMAN), Mr. Olufemi Adewole, told New Telegraph at the weekend that the fuel importation has now been made tough for marketers because banks are now reluctant to extend credit line to them. Members of the DAPPMAN, Adewole said, were no longer importing petrol. He said: “At DAPPMA, what I can tell you is that since the tanker drivers called off their strike, we have not resumed importation.
Our money is still outstanding and in fact, banks have not fully opened their credit lines to us. “We are still being owed and as of May 29, the total debt owed all marketers was N291.7 billion. Banks have yet to fully reopen credit lines to all our members, hence we have not been importing as much as we should.”
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had, penultimate week, said it had enough stock of petrol to service the country for 25 days at a national consumption rate of 40 million litres per day. Acknowledging that the NNPC had been coming up with a lot of statements about its stock of petrol, the DAPPMAN secretary said its members could not verify the corporation’s claim, as fuel queues have continued to re-appear and vanish.
While marketers now depend on NNPC for products’ supply, our correspondent gathered that the 90-day window given to major marketers to pay for fuel lifted is causing bickering among them and their counterparts at the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN). NNPC sells product to IPMAN members on cashand- carry basis, a decision seen by some members as discriminatory and antilocal content.
The source blamed lack of cooperation among IPMAN members for the “injustice in the hand of the NNPC.” He said: “The majors have three months to pay for fuel lifted from NNPC, but our members do not. This is causing bad blood, I must tell you.” An acute fuel shortage crippled Nigeria last April and May, as fuel importers shut their depots to press home their case.
Importers were worried that the new government, elected in March, would not honour the debts incurred on fuel subsidy and foreign exchange differentials. Spokesman for IPMAN, Mr. Yakubu Suleiman, however, said last Wednesday that the government had agreed to a meeting between its representatives and the marketers to pay N159 billion subsidy debts. “They agreed to pay the remaining balance last week. Nothing has come yet, but maybe this or next week. It’s N159 billion ($800 million),” Suleiman said.
No comments:
Post a Comment