A member of the House of Representatives, Hon Sergius Ogun, has disclosed that oil marketers are paying in dollars to transport petroleum products within Nigeria despite the Federal Government’s directive against such a move.
While speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Hon Ogun who is a member of an ad-hoc committee on petroleum downstream frowned against the persistent fuel scarcity in the country which has lasted for months.
Although Nigeria is one of the largest oil producers in the world, the country nevertheless often experiences fuel scarcity, sometimes lasting for months. No doubt, the ongoing fuel scarcity which has forced the price of oil to triple has affected the movement of people and goods.
Petroleum is sold between N300 to N400 in some places in Abuja and Lagos while the activities of black marketers who sell above N500 have also increased.
Investors King earlier reported that the House of Representatives on Tuesday asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to end the current petrol scarcity crisis within seven days. Similarly, the Department of State Service (DSS) has also issued a directive to NNPC and oil marketers to end fuel scarcity, stating that it is a threat to national security.
While speaking about the ultimatum, Ogun said: “I think this is doable in seven days. The challenge really is that there is a shortfall in supply. The suppliers were not willing to give the refined product because NNPC was owing them.
“The mother vessels that bring the refined products are in Lagos and the daughter 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’s about $60,000″.
It could be recalled that in November 2022, oil marketers urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, to comply with the Federal Government’s directive to end payment of port charges in dollars for petroleum products brought into the country.
