Nigeria: Senate Approves Outstanding Subsidy Claims of 74 Oil Marketers

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): The Senate has approved the payment of N348 billion as outstanding subsidy claims to 74 petroleum marketers.

Some of the Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) are, Oando, Total, Honey Well, Capital Oil, Conoil, A.A. Rano, Folawiyo and Eternal oil.

Others are, Aiteo, Forte Oil, Bovas, Mobil, MRS Oil and Gas among others.

The Senate said the payment is to enable them update all outstanding liabilities and clear all debts, interest accrued and forex differential once and for all.

The approval was sequel to the adoption of the interim report of the Committee on Petroleum Downstream on the Promissory Note Programme and a Bond Issuance to Settle Inherited Local Debts and Contractual Obligations to Petroleum Marketers.

A promissory note is a debt instrument which one party promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other, either at a fixed or determinable future time, under specific terms.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in March written to the National Assembly, seeking its approval for the issuance of promissory notes to offset inherited local debts.

The Senate eventually resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to look into the promissory note and bond issuance programme and advice the Senate appropriately.

Presenting the report, the chairman of the committee, Kabiru Marafa (APC, Zamfara Central), noted that continuous delay of the approval of the promissory note request will affect the liquidity of the oil companies and undermine their crucial role in the development of the economy.

In the report, the committee recommended that the 55 oil marketers be paid 100 per cent of their claims. It said of the said amount, 55 oil marketers are to receive N276 billion (N275,750,415,108) while 19 others will get N73 billion (N73,452,639,866).

The committee also called for the payment of 65 per cent claims to some marketers due to contentions in their figures.

Mr Marafa explained that the marketers made claims to the tune of N670 billion (N670,497,543,15), as of June 30, 2017, but the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) verified and approved the sum of N429 billion (N429,054,203,228) to the Federal Ministry of Finance.

 Courtesy: www.allafrica.com