The ravaging scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, commonly known as petrol, may likely end today, Thursday, April 30, 2015, going by the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
She said that the Federal Government will pay about N156 billion to the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, on Thursday in other to end the biting effect of the product’s scarcity on Nigerians.
Queues returned to most filling stations in the country due to the refusal of the marketers to supply the product.
Speaking at the World Customs Day event held in Abuja on Wednesday, Okonjo-Iweala said the present government was doing everything possible to pay the subsidy claims to the marketers. She said the N156 billion represents the remaining tranche of the N256.2 billion debt owed MOMAN.
According to her, MOMAN was paid about N350 billion in December and that the N156 billion will be made on Thursday.
“Let me tell you, on the issue with oil marketers, we have been really working with them. We have been dialoguing with them. We paid them N350 billion in December. We paid them N31 billion as foreign exchange differential and by tomorrow (today), we will be paying them the N100 billion which we will give them as IOUs as well as their interest rate differential of N56 billion,” the Minister said at the event.
“I am about to sign to get that paid and I think Nigerians will agree that the government is making good effort to accommodate the oil marketers. They are also Nigerians and they also need to co-operate with us,” she added.
Fuel Scarcity May End Today As FG Pays Marketers N156b http://t.co/GF7Wdq91hl