N200bn Outstanding Subsidy Claims: FG Meets Marketers Monday"
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, will on Monday meet with marketers of petroleum products to agree on modalities for the payment of outstanding subsidy claims, amounting to N200 billion.
This is coming as owners of petrol tankers under the aegis of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) have suspended their industrial action, thus allowing tanker drivers to resume loading of fuel.
Also yesterday, scarcity of aviation fuel, known as Jet A1 paralysed flight operations, prompting the biggest Nigerian carrier, Arik Air to operate only 24 out of 105 flights on Friday.
Speaking to journalists on Friday on the current scarcity of petrol, the Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Femi Olawore, said NARTO had suspended its action, following the part-payment of the money owed the association by the marketers.
He confirmed that the marketers paid NARTO from the N156 billion subsidy paid to the marketers by the federal fovernment on Thursday.
He said NARTO's outstanding claims would be paid by the marketers as soon as government pays the outstanding N200 billion subsidy claims.
"We want to say that in collaboration with NARTO and Petroleum Tanker Drivers (NARTO) that this action has been suspended because the Finance Minister has agreed to meet with us on Monday to agree on how the balance of N200 billion subsidy claims will be paid. We owe NARTO and we will pay them a proportion of the subsidy claims we received. NARTO has told us that if we don't pay the balance within some days, they would resume strike action," Olawore said.
He stated that out of the N354.4 billion subsidy claims owed the marketers by the government, N154.4 billion was paid on Thursday, leaving a balance of N200.2 billion.
“We are ready to cooperate but what we are owed should be settled within two weeks," he added.
Following the failure of the federal government to pay subsidy claims, the marketers were unable to pay the tanker owners, whose vehicles lift petrol from the depots to filling stations.
This development led NARTO to withdraw trucks from the roads, resulting in the current nationwide scarcity of petrol.”
Fuel Scarcity Paralyses Flight Operations…
Meanwhile, scarcity of aviation fuel, known as Jet A1, has paralysed flight operations, prompting the biggest Nigerian carrier, Arik Air to operate 24 out of its 105 flights on Friday.
The airline said it might cancel today and tomorrow’s flights if there is no availability of aviation fuel, just as other airlines are hard hit by the scarcity, including Aero, MedView, Dana Air, Air Peace and Landover.
Although many international flights buy fuel before arriving Nigeria but they top up on arrival and this is delaying the flights because they cannot easily obtain fuel from Lagos and Abuja.
THISDAY gathered from a passenger that an Emirates flight billed to take off 2:30 pm was delayed for over three hours while waiting to top its fuel.
The scarcity was caused by the strike action embarked upon by the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) which ended on Friday.
Operators and other Nigerians fear that if the scarcity persists, it would ground economic activities in the country, as travellers are already frustrated by endless flight cancellation and delays.
Arik Air said it has lost estimated $9 million (N1,773,000,000) to the fuel scarcity which has been affecting its operations since last Thursday.
Addressing reporters friday at the Arik Air headquarters, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the airline’s Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ndulue said it had put series of contingency plans in place to ensure it does not shut down its operations because of the scarcity of aviation fuel, but noted that if the scarcity persists, it may be forced to shut down.
He said the airline now flies to neighbouring countries in West and Central Africa to source for aviation fuel including Ghana, Cameroon and Benin Republic at a ridiculously high rate to sustain its operations.
He said if the fuel situation did not improve, the airline might not operate, as the alternate arrangement of flying outside the country and back again before taking off to its destination was costing the airline too much money with the attendant inconveniences to passengers, adding that because of the many flights the airline operates, it needs daily about 800,000 litres of fuel for its flights from Lagos.
“For over one week now, aviation fuel scarcity has impacted negatively in our flight operations. It has become very bad that we have to scale down our flights gradually. In the last one week, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain our operations owing largely to scarcity of aviation fuel.
Getting fuel to fly to our international destinations has become extremely expensive, because we have to source fuel from Cotonou, Cameroon and Accra to sustain our operations.
The Arik Managing Director said that the scarcity led to disruptions yesterday bringing its number of flights to the “lowest ebb, forcing us to carry out only 20 per cent of our operations. With the attendant loss of over one million dollars daily as the scarcity constitute additional costs to our operations."
He clarified that the short supply of aviation fuel to Arik Air was not borne out of indebtedness to fuel marketers, saying that airlines make credit arrangement with their suppliers and pay them within 48 hours.
Meanwhile, passengers remain stranded at airports across the country as airlines are unable to get aviation fuel to fly their aircraft.
Domestic carriers were either cancelling flights or delaying them for hours.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, will on Monday meet with marketers of petroleum products to agree on modalities for the payment of outstanding subsidy claims, amounting to N200 billion.
This is coming as owners of petrol tankers under the aegis of the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) have suspended their industrial action, thus allowing tanker drivers to resume loading of fuel.
Also yesterday, scarcity of aviation fuel, known as Jet A1 paralysed flight operations, prompting the biggest Nigerian carrier, Arik Air to operate only 24 out of 105 flights on Friday.
Speaking to journalists on Friday on the current scarcity of petrol, the Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Femi Olawore, said NARTO had suspended its action, following the part-payment of the money owed the association by the marketers.
He confirmed that the marketers paid NARTO from the N156 billion subsidy paid to the marketers by the federal fovernment on Thursday.
He said NARTO's outstanding claims would be paid by the marketers as soon as government pays the outstanding N200 billion subsidy claims.
"We want to say that in collaboration with NARTO and Petroleum Tanker Drivers (NARTO) that this action has been suspended because the Finance Minister has agreed to meet with us on Monday to agree on how the balance of N200 billion subsidy claims will be paid. We owe NARTO and we will pay them a proportion of the subsidy claims we received. NARTO has told us that if we don't pay the balance within some days, they would resume strike action," Olawore said.
He stated that out of the N354.4 billion subsidy claims owed the marketers by the government, N154.4 billion was paid on Thursday, leaving a balance of N200.2 billion.
“We are ready to cooperate but what we are owed should be settled within two weeks," he added.
Following the failure of the federal government to pay subsidy claims, the marketers were unable to pay the tanker owners, whose vehicles lift petrol from the depots to filling stations.
This development led NARTO to withdraw trucks from the roads, resulting in the current nationwide scarcity of petrol.”
Fuel Scarcity Paralyses Flight Operations…
Meanwhile, scarcity of aviation fuel, known as Jet A1, has paralysed flight operations, prompting the biggest Nigerian carrier, Arik Air to operate 24 out of its 105 flights on Friday.
The airline said it might cancel today and tomorrow’s flights if there is no availability of aviation fuel, just as other airlines are hard hit by the scarcity, including Aero, MedView, Dana Air, Air Peace and Landover.
Although many international flights buy fuel before arriving Nigeria but they top up on arrival and this is delaying the flights because they cannot easily obtain fuel from Lagos and Abuja.
THISDAY gathered from a passenger that an Emirates flight billed to take off 2:30 pm was delayed for over three hours while waiting to top its fuel.
The scarcity was caused by the strike action embarked upon by the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) which ended on Friday.
Operators and other Nigerians fear that if the scarcity persists, it would ground economic activities in the country, as travellers are already frustrated by endless flight cancellation and delays.
Arik Air said it has lost estimated $9 million (N1,773,000,000) to the fuel scarcity which has been affecting its operations since last Thursday.
Addressing reporters friday at the Arik Air headquarters, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the airline’s Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ndulue said it had put series of contingency plans in place to ensure it does not shut down its operations because of the scarcity of aviation fuel, but noted that if the scarcity persists, it may be forced to shut down.
He said the airline now flies to neighbouring countries in West and Central Africa to source for aviation fuel including Ghana, Cameroon and Benin Republic at a ridiculously high rate to sustain its operations.
He said if the fuel situation did not improve, the airline might not operate, as the alternate arrangement of flying outside the country and back again before taking off to its destination was costing the airline too much money with the attendant inconveniences to passengers, adding that because of the many flights the airline operates, it needs daily about 800,000 litres of fuel for its flights from Lagos.
“For over one week now, aviation fuel scarcity has impacted negatively in our flight operations. It has become very bad that we have to scale down our flights gradually. In the last one week, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain our operations owing largely to scarcity of aviation fuel.
Getting fuel to fly to our international destinations has become extremely expensive, because we have to source fuel from Cotonou, Cameroon and Accra to sustain our operations.
The Arik Managing Director said that the scarcity led to disruptions yesterday bringing its number of flights to the “lowest ebb, forcing us to carry out only 20 per cent of our operations. With the attendant loss of over one million dollars daily as the scarcity constitute additional costs to our operations."
He clarified that the short supply of aviation fuel to Arik Air was not borne out of indebtedness to fuel marketers, saying that airlines make credit arrangement with their suppliers and pay them within 48 hours.
Meanwhile, passengers remain stranded at airports across the country as airlines are unable to get aviation fuel to fly their aircraft.
Domestic carriers were either cancelling flights or delaying them for hours.
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