FG Pays Oil Marketers N156billion to End Fuel Scarcity In Nigeria

Today, the federal government paid the sum of N156billion to the oil marketers in a bid to prevent scarcity of petroleum products in the country. The minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala disclosed this in a press statement released by the ministry this afternoon.

“In line with the federal government’s commitment to prioritizing payment to marketers in spite of revenue constraints, the ministry of finance has paid the sum of N156billion to oil marketers,”

“Then N156billion is the latest in a series of significant payments made to the oil marketers within the last five months. These include over N300billion in two installments in December last year and N31billion in interest differentials recently. In all, oil marketers have received over N500billion within the past five months. “The payment has two components. The first consists of the cash backing of the N100billion IOU which the marketers were given in March. The second is N56billion in interest payments for the marketers according to the PPPRA template.” This leaves a balance ofN98 billioncertified by PPPRA as the amount owed the markers.” The minister also urged the marketers to appreciate the efforts being made by the government to meet up with their payments and reciprocate with some understanding of the situation so that Nigerians should not suffer some more scarcity.”

“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,” she said. “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.” Okonjo Iweala urged the marketers to sustain the distribution and supply of fuel to end the suffering of Nigerians at fuel stations.