NPA, NIMASA charging oil marketers in dollars – Rep

Sergius Ogun, a member of the House of Representatives petroleum committee, revealed how petroleum product marketers nonetheless pay for logistics services in dollars even though the federal government forbids local exchange of foreign money.

Marketers, according to Ogun, paid in dollars to charter daughter vessels with which to transport goods released by giving birth to mother vessels.

Additionally, he said that, in defiance of a presidential mandate, the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency were collecting earnings in dollars.

The politician said this on Thursday while appearing on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television morning current affairs program.

Ogun referred to a resolution passed by the House on Tuesday, which urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to produce enough premium motor spirit, often known as gasoline, within seven days.

The House specifically urged the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to “seek the collaboration of the Nigeria Police Force and the DSS to ensure that fuel is sold at the regulated price and in all retail outlets” during the plenary on Tuesday. This was done in order to lessen the suffering of Nigerians.

The Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Legislative Compliance were additionally instructed by the House to guarantee adherence to the resolution.

The motion, titled “Urgent Need for the Government to End the Current Fuel Scarcity,” was made by House member Musa Abdullahi and served as the foundation for the resolution.

I believe this is possible in seven days, Ogun partially stated in the interview. It’s the lack of supply that is the true problem. Because NNPC owed the suppliers money, they were unwilling to provide the refined product.

“The mother vessels that bring the refined products are in Lagos and the daughter’s vessels are going there to take. You charter those daughter vessels with dollars. They said it used to be about $30,000, but now, it is about $60,000. Also, the NPA takes its docking charges in dollars. NIMASA take their fees in dollars.

“I actually heard that there was a memo from the (Presidential) Villa by the late Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to the President, who met with the then Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and other government agencies and directed that they should start taking their tariffs and fees in naira but he was ignored. These people (marketers) are going to the black market to buy dollars because the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) is not giving them dollars for these transactions with government agencies within the country.

“Now, you are wondering why there is scarcity. NNPC is broke; they are not remitting money to the federation account and they don’t have money to pay suppliers. They can’t deny this. If they deny, just ask them to bring their stock record for November/December 2020, November/December 2021, and this year.”

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