Scores of travellers were yesterday night stranded at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. The chaotic situation was caused by the unavailability of aviation fuel brought about by the scarcity of petroleum products in the country.
United Airlines flight to Houston, Texas was among the hardest hits by the situation. The airline tried everything possible to airlift its passenger even to Lisbon or Frankfurt to ameliorate the situation but failed. The airline had to put its passengers in several hotels around the airport for a possible take off of the flight today. Similar fate also befell other airlines.
The National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) on April 26, began an indefinite strike over alleged non-payment of N20 billion owed them by major oil marketers. The scarcity of fuel has also paralyzed movement and commercial activities across the country. From Lagos to Abuja, it was a tale of anguish and pain.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) admitted that the strike has affected the supply of petroleum products nationwide. But its spokesman Ohi Alegbe insisted the corporation has sufficient stock at its coastal depots in Port Harcourt (Rivers State), Warri (Delta State) and Calabar (Cross River State). Alegbe, who explained the stock excludes that at the national strategic reserves, stated that NNPC has enough to service the country for 27 days at a national consumption rate of 40 million litres per day. According to him, the corporation has stepped up efforts to end the crisis in the fuel supply system which entered its fourth day yesterday. “We are, however, working towards a speedy resolution of the issues to ensure a hitch-free distribution of products across the country,” he assured. He appealed to NARTO and PTD to call off their strike in national interest and to prevent unnecessary hardship on Nigerians.
The situation has led to some unscrupulous business people to take advantage of. In a filling station at Mechanic bus stop along Badagry Expressway, a litre of petro is sold for N180 an astronomical over 100% hike in price. In other places across the country, petro is sold from between N130 to N160. To make matters worse, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) yesterday put the Federal Government on notice on their readiness to embark on strike if their employers being owed subsidy failed to pay April salaries. NUPENG National Chairman Tokunbo Korodo gave the warning while reacting to the lingering fuel scarcity.
Korodo, who is the Lagos State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), wondered why President Goodluck Jonathan administration would be failing in its obligations to the oil marketers, who have already imported the products. He added that should the government fail to pay the marketers latest today, as promised by the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the union would be left with no choice than to down tools.
THE Federal Government moved yesterday to end the lingering fuel shortage being experienced nationwide. It succumbed to pressures from members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), who got N156 billion. In a statement signed by Paul Nwabuikwu, a Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Federal Ministry of Finance said yesterday’s payment was “in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to prioritize payment to marketers in spite of revenue constraints.”
The latest payment, Nwabuikwu said, has two components. The first he said “consists of the cash backing of the N100 billion IOU which the marketers were given in March and the second is N56 billion in interest payments for the marketers according to the PPPRA (Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency) template.” Despite the payments, Nwabuikwu disclosed that the markers were still being owed a balance of N98 billion certified by PPPRA.
The statement reads: “The N156 billion is the latest in a series of significant payments made to the oil marketers within the last five months. These include over N300 billion in two installments in December last year and N31 billion in interest differentials recently. In all, oil marketers have received over N500 billion within the past five months.” According to the statement, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala appealed to oil marketers “to appreciate the efforts being made by government to meet their demands, urging them to reciprocate with some understanding of the situation of Nigerians who should not suffer more. “She urged the marketers to sustain the distribution and supply of fuel to end the suffering of Nigerians at fuel stations.”
The minister was reported as saying that, “the Federal Government has made maximum effort, in spite of the well-known fact that the fall in oil prices has significantly reduced national revenues, to prioritize payments to marketers. “For the sake of Nigerians who are bearing the brunt of fuel scarcity, the marketers should reciprocate in the spirit of dialogue and cooperation in which we have always tried to engage them.”
