Unpaid N46b caused by failure to remit collections
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Fuel distribution may be disrupted nationwide as marketers say delay in the payment of about N46 billion bridging cost to them affects their operations.
“Lightering cost” is the cost of using light vessels to move fuel products from mother vessels to depots because mother vessels cannot berth in shallow water depth.
“Bridging cost” is the cost of transporting fuel from a depot to other parts of the country to ensure a uniform pump price nationwide.
Bridging cost has mounted in the past two months after the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) board which reimbursed transportation cost was replaced by the new Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
It was learnt that the inability of the NMDPRA to pay marketers is due to the failure of marketers who collect bridging levies to remit them to the NMDPRA.
A source at the NMDPRA said one marketer alone owes over N50 billion in unremitted bridging collections.
Independent and Major Marketers (IPMAN) Public Relations Officer, Chinedu Ukadike, confirmed that his members alone are owed over N46 billion.
“PEF had been owing marketers before it was scrapped. We are in a very difficult position but we understand that the new management at the NMDPRA is doing their best. The issue of owing marketers is chronic,” he told Energy Vanguard.
“It is difficult to give exact figure since the transactions are ongoing, but they are owing our members not less than N46 billion.”
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Selling above official pump price
Ukadike said most independent marketers still face challenges in procuring petrol as private depot owners are “not loading trucks or are selling above federal government prescribed rate. Most independent marketers source their products from private depots and most of them don’t have.
“In Port Harcourt area for example, there are over 30 private depots but only a handful are selling, even then most are buying at the landing cost of N162 per litre whereas the benchmark for selling is N165/litre.
“It becomes almost impossible for marketers to do business.
“The challenge is the price fixing. The government should create the right environment for refineries to be built so that this endless system of petrol importation can end and that is critical to developing the sector.”
Yusuf Othman (Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners National President)
“First of all we congratulate the government on the passage of the PIA. We also congratulate the new agencies.
“However, we want to know our fate as regards our liabilities with the PPPRA and PEF as regards also going forward,” Othman said in a previous interview with Energy Vanguard last month.
“We want to know our fate. We are not averse to the government. We are not against it but we are in the dark.
“Now that the government said it has scrapped the DPR, PPPRA and PEF, we need to be briefed officially what is the status of our operations now.
“What is the status of our outstanding money with PEF and what is the fate of our current operation?”
Farouk Ahmed (CEO of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA)
Ahmed reassured marketers, saying the government will continue to pay the cost of bridging petrol to ensure its availability across the country.
He explained in a statement that the NMDPRA will also offset all the verified bridging claims by all stakeholders in the distribution of fuel
He pleaded with tanker drivers and other stakeholders that the NMDPRA will continue to pay the bridging rate to ensure effective distribution of products nationwide.
