The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association on Thursday blamed inadequate foreign exchange facility from banks to the inability of marketers from importing petrol into the country.
Olufemi Adewole, the Executive Secretary of DAPPMA, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos, against the backdrop of the ongoing lingering fuel scarcity.
According to Adewole, most marketers are faced with the challenges of getting foreign exchange facility from banks to fast-track petroleum products’ importation.
He said: “The business of oil and gas importation involved changing naira into dollar to be able to import products, but banks often refused to give foreign exchange facility.
“Most marketers who had licences to import products could not import due to foreign exchange challenges.
“Some marketers who imported some cargoes of petrol into the country, which cost around $18 million to $20 million, found it difficult to pay their foreign partners in dollars because banks were not giving foreign exchange to marketers.”
Adewole said the inability of marketers to access banks foreign exchange contributed to the ongoing fuel scarcity in the country.
He said marketers were also constrained due to the burden created by unpaid subsidies.
According to him, the current foreign exchange crisis in the country, as well as the failure of banks to advance loan facilities, make it difficult to consider importing fuel.
Some of the major marketers, who preferred not to be quoted, told NAN that the inability of government to pay subsidy debt of more than N300 billion also contributed to the lingering scarcity.
The marketers said they were unable to import fuel in the last two months due to accumulated debt as a result of the outstanding subsidy.
Seyi Gambo, a former Publicity Relations Officer of PENGASSAN, urged the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to urgently address the issue of downstream, describing it as the major problem confronting the nation.
According to Gambo, oil cartels and other actors in the sector had held the country hostage for too long and full deregulation is the ultimate solution to the problem.
“With deregulation, there is guarantee of product availability and once the products are available, factors of demand and supply will dictate the pricing,” he said.
NAN.