No less than N52.7 billion has been paid to fuel transporters in downstream sector by the Federal Government between a period of two months, spanning December and February, Nigerian NewsDirect has learnt.
According to information gathered, it was obtained that the Federal Government disbursed N12.7 billion to the transporters in December, a sum of N10 billion in January, while another N30 billion is earmarked for this week.
Recall that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had stated repeatedly that the Federal Government has not stopped paying the cost of bridging Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, to ensure its availability across the Country.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr Farouk during an engagement meeting with the downstream stakeholders on Wednesday, in Lagos, noted that payment of bridging funds to transporters has been a subject of concern to avert scarcity of PMS.
Commenting on the subject while speaking to journalists, following the stakeholders’ meeting, Farouk said: “Since the last meeting of December, we have paid about N12.7billion to the transporters and last week Monday, we paid another N10 billion and this week we are paying another N30 billion to transporters in a bid to give them respite because of the difficulties they are facing with the economic realities.
“In total, we have paid N52.7 billion for bridging fund and this payment is ongoing and as they transport, we pay.
“When we came in, we wanted to ensure that we do our due diligence before payment was done. What we paid in December has surpassed the whole of the payment made in 2021.
“We had to do our due diligence to ensure that those who are owing, we must reconcile before we make the payment. The reconciliation is still ongoing and the more we collect, the more we pay so that we can catch up with the backlog we inherited.”
On the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), he disclosed that efforts are ongoing by the Presidential steering committee chaired by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to review a number of submissions under consideration.
“The intention is to review these regulations and invite all the stakeholders to get input because we do not intend to do this alone. We need to invite stakeholders to review the regulations before they are put in place,” he said.
This is just as the Group Executive Director, Downstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Limited), Mr Adeyemi Adetunji, has declared the resolve of the NNPC Ltd. to “continue to play its role as an energy supplier of last resort for the country.”
“We will continue to ensure that all petroleum products are available. Thankfully we went through the last festive season with zero queues in the Country.
“NNPC will continue to put in place and supply the market with adequate petroleum products even as we are now NNPC Ltd., a fully commercial company governed by both the PIA and CAMA.
“We will also continue to play our role as a responsible player and subscribe to the highest standards of all the regulations in the industry. We will continue to collaborate with all to ensure that Nigerians have adequate and quality flow of petroleum products at all times.”
Key among the issues discussed by the stakeholders were the issues on the controversies surrounding subsidy removal and the PIA.