Senate committee meets Buhari on N800bn subsidy debt

Government bureaucracy, especially in the Ministry of Finance, has been blamed for the non-payment of the N800bn owed oil marketers by the Federal Government.

The money, which accrued from subsidy on imported petroleum products, was the reason the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria nearly made good its threat to shut down operations last week.

Oil sector workers’ unions are also reviewing the situation but have yet to take a definitive stance.

Speaking after emerging from a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Kabiru Marafa, stated that the bureaucratic technicalities had delayed the payment of the money across administrations, adding that the Buhari regime inherited part of the challenges.

Marafa, who spoke with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, added that though the present administration had given the nod that the debts be sorted out, bureaucratic issues caused the delay.

But the senator warned that those he called “enemies of the administration” might seize the opportunity to create fuel scarcity during the Yuletide and blame it on Buhari.

He disclosed that the technicalities were discussed with the President, while the National Assembly and all other stakeholders would work out any areas of differences to ensure that the money was paid in order to avert any disruption in fuel supply during the Yuletide.

Marafa added that there was enough petrol in stock to run the country throughout the Christmas and the New Year period.

On the strike threat, Marafa said, “We are now talking of technicalities; there is fuel in the country on our seas and in our depots all across the country.

“But there are some technicalities now regarding payment of subsidies, forex differentials and interest, which this government inherited. They are not a creation of this government.

“However, government is a continuum and when the President came in, he was confronted with it and he agreed and said, ‘Fine I have stopped subsidy but since there are claims, we will look into them and pay.’

“But, now the bureaucratic nature of the computations is what dragged up to this time and depot owners are not too happy with what the Ministry of Finance has done and maybe some other agencies.

“So, we have been on it in the Senate and the House of Representatives for almost two weeks now. Finally, today, I have had quality time with Mr President and we have looked into the whole thing.

“By next week, we will invite all the stakeholders. I believe we should be able to get to the root of the matter. As for the depot owners, we are going to plead with them again to give us more time, especially now that we have discussed with the head of the executive arm of government.

“So, I am sure everything will be resolved in the next few days.”

Warning that the matter was delicate and could lead to artificial scarcity any time soon if not quickly resolved, Marafa called on affected agencies of government, including the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Debt Management Office, to act fast.

The senator added, “There has been some disquiet in the industry regarding subsidy payments to marketers with ministry of finance, DMO and the CBN, which we feel if not carefully handled, some enemies of the administration may bring about technical issues that can lead to fuel scarcity.

“Government has provided enormous quantities of petroleum products across the country that can last the country up to six months through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

“So, some people are not too happy about it and they want to sabotage the efforts of the government.”

Recall that DAPPMAN had declared on December 9 that it would from the midnight of that day stopped the loading of petroleum products across its depots as a result of the failure of government to pay the outstanding subsidy debts which it owed oil marketers.

But the next day, it suspended its earlier directive to shut down depots nationwide and gave the Federal Government a five-day grace to pay part of the outstanding debt.