Nigeria oil marketers have disclosed that except the Federal Government pays all petroleum subsidy arrears of over $2 billion (N720 billion) owed oil marketers, many employees in the downstream sector may soon be thrown into the labour market.
Already, the oil marketers have disclosed plans to embark on mass retrenchment of workers as government fails to pay the outstanding subsidy owed on the importation of petroleum products, accrued interest on loans from banks and exchange rate differential.
The government’s delay in the payment of the over N720 billion debt has made marketers to halt the importation of petrol, leaving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to become the sole importer of the essential commodity. The marketers said as a result of the non-payment of interest and foreign exchange differentials, they had gradually become financially handicapped to continue operating profitably.
The marketers, who operate under the aegis of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN); Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN); Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA); and Independent Petroleum Products Importers (IPPIs), added that government’s delay in settling all the debts was threatening massive investment in the downstream sector.
A statement by the marketers after their joint meeting in Lagos yesterday which was signed by their legal adviser, Patrick Etim Esq, revealed that many petrol sellers and oil companies are owing their workers over eight months’ salaries due to the inability of the Federal Government to pay the debt.
The marketers appealed for an urgent intervention of government by the authorisation to pay outstanding interest and foreign exchange differentials owed them to date to save their businesses from total collapse. They alleged that government violated the agreement reached with them on payment schedule.
They claimed that the commercial banks that lent money to them for the importation of petrol were still in despair following the weight of the indebtedness of the oil sellers, even as their operations nationwide were fast grinding to a halt. They said the hope that the outstanding subsidy would be paid following the intervention of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, appeared to have been shattered as the payment promised to be effected in July 2017 was yet to materialise.
