OpeOluwani Akintayo
19 January 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has replied the National Assembly after it accused the firm of subsidising fuel without its consent, saying the Act establishing the state-owned Corporation is a law on its own.
Senators from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP and All Progressive Congress, APC, had on Wednesday, castigated the chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum, Downstream, Kabir Marafa, for not including the burning issue of fuel subsidy in an interim report.
However, the managing director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, PPMC, Umar Ajiya, while responding to questions on Channels Television Friday morning, said the NNPC Act is a law which allows it to run on its own with or without the National Assembly.
The PPMC is a subsidiary of NNPC which ensures availability of petroleum products to Nigeria’s industries.
Although he declined using the word subsidy, however, Ajiya admitted that NNPC had been paying N26 due to differentials in landing cost and approved selling price.
“For us, it’s not a question of subsidy, we don’t know about subsidy. It was not budgeted for but the Act establishing us, the National Assembly knows clearly that in that same act, there is a provision that we can run our operation and recover our cost fully.
“There is a difference between the landing cost and the price we are selling but what we are saying is that is part of our core structure.”
“The NNPC act is a law on itself and the National Assembly is the one responsible for enacting laws, so, if there is any remedy or solution; as one of the senators, the issue is looking into the Act establishing these entities; NNPC, CBN etc.”
According to Ajiya, the recent fuel scarcity was due to the inadequate transportation system, which had resulted in poor circulation of products, and panic buying.
“For the last one week, there is no blessed day that trucks do not fall off the road between Jebba and Mokwa and this is the link way where these products are brought from the depot especially from the south to the north, especially Abuja.
“We had to mobilise to do palliative repairs and pull off the trucks to ensure that trucks move. On top of that, the channels from which we transport these products from the ships offshore Lagos to Warri was blocked by another vessel. We equally have to mobilise together with the owner of the vessel to try to remove that ship. That channel has not been dredged for a long time.
“Two, there is an issue of capacity to regulate effectively the price cap. DPR is trying its best but what is happening is that in the major cities of this country where you have the major marketers, and also the mega stations of NNPC, people get the fuel for N145 but when you go to the outskirts of the city, it is sold beyond that price and as such, motorists queue in to the city early morning to queue up and late in the evening, refuel their gas and go back. It reached a stage that the taxi drivers have now found a very lucrative job of buying the fuel in the city and going back to the outskirts to sell at high price.”
He, however, blamed the situation on previous administrations.
“These are consequences of an inherited state of infrastructure we are living with. The administration also inherited an empty treasury. So, we couldn’t overnight repair all these roads.”
Ajiya described as “untrue”, the allegation that the NNPC had influenced the outcome of the petroleum committee report presented by Mr. Marafa on Wednesday.
“I think that’s (doctoring the report) not true. That committee has integrity to protect. NNPC cannot doctor a report. We presented our case. At the public hearing, everybody heard what the Managing Director presented. So, there is no question of influencing that report.”