From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
To address the ongoing shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the country, the Nigerian Gas and Oil Suppliers Association (NOGASA), has suggested that the federal government impose price limits on dollar and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) diesel.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday in Abuja, the association’s national president, Chief Bennett Korie,
offered suggestions on how the government should interfere to remedy the situation, while attributing the rising price of fuel to the high dollar rate and the rising cost of diesel.
Although the group had originally backed the elimination of fuel subsidies, Korie stated that the current system is not functioning effectively.
He pointed out that the uncertainty around the exchange rate is preventing most private refineries, including the modular ones, from starting production as they are unsure of the price to peg their products at.
In order to reduce the scarcity of dollars, the Union President asked the federal government to perform all of its domestic crude oil transactions in Naira and to fix the price of dollars at 750 to the Naira as benchmarked in the 2024 budget.
He further asked the government to reintroduce and strengthen Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) to enable Marketers recoup and reinvest their funds for the benefit of the industry and the economy.
The NOGASA boss equally urged the government to stop allowing companies and organisations like the Nigeria Ports Authority and the Nigerian Maritime and Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to collect payments in dollars. This, he said, increases demand for dollars and worsens the foreign exchange problem.
If the issues are not resolved by the end of February, Korie cautioned, the fuel marketing sector could collapse.
According to him, “The problem we have is that we recognize others without respecting our own. There is no reason for us to be trading with dollars. You will agree with me that the problems that we are facing today are as a result of dollar inflation or whatever they call it.
“So, I want to use this opportunity to tell Nigerians what we marketers are going through as a result of this flying dollars and at the same time what diesel is doing to us.
“Now, what is this problem? If are buying PMS at N620 or N630 for example, and you are using Diesel of 1,700 naira per litre, then there is a problem. It is like the dollar and the diesel are going pari passu, anytime dollar increases, the diesel increases, which is wrong.
“Fix that diesel problem then PMS will be stable. If NNPCL will keep the PMS Price from June to date, is there anything wrong with doing it for AGO?
“So, if the government wants to be fair and wants to do the deregulation proper, the diesel too should go the same way PMS is going.
“Heavens will not fall if you sell AGO N650/litre. The same magic that they have in PMS, the government should apply it on AGO, and then you should see things ease.”
“The government needs to act fast, otherwise with the way things are, we do not need to go on air and say that we are withdrawing services, on its own, services will withdraw because we do not have money again. Where do we continue to get the money to augment the differences? You have N50million, you want to go and buy products and they say it is now N70 million. Who will give you the N20 million Naira?”