Okonjo-Iweala Blames Fuel Scarcity On Marketers

The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Saturday accused petroleum products marketers of blackmail by masterminding the current fuel scarcity that has threatened to ground the economy.

Premium Times reports.

 The Minister, who was speaking in Abuja, said it was shocking that barely a week after she reached an agreement over ​​N200 billion ​fuel ​claims​,​ the marketers reneged and failed to continue selling fuel to consumers.

 She said it was curious that despite these efforts by ​the ​government in a year it was going through difficult times, the​ marketers ​were showing so much bad faith.

The minister said after the N154 billion was paid and the marketers claim up with ​a new​ request of N200 billion as ​their ​outstanding claims, it was found out that about N159 billion was actually what they were asking for as exchange rate differential.

She said: “The marketers wanted me (Minister) to sign the claim for the payment of N159 billion and I said no, because Nigerian​s​ don’t ​know ​what is exchange rate differential. We had to call those agencies responsible to verify those claims in view of the fact that there has been so much fraud and manipulations in the claims by oil marketers​,” Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said.​

“We have to be very careful, so that Nigerians would not accuse us of giving away their money for something that was not real.

“It is the demonstration of the highest sense of bad faith that after we had an agreement during the meeting and they said everything had been settled, only for the marketers to turn around the very next day to say a complete opposite thing​.​

“They next day they shut down all the filling stations, except few of them who opened to sell. What does that tell you?

“My conclusion is that the marketers just want Nigerians to suffer. Anyone who thinks that this whole thing has to do with the money being owed is not being truthful. If it was so, the marketers would have waited for the verification to be completed.

“It is wrong to shut down their stations and depots a day after reaching an agreement with government just to make a lot money from the black market. Nigerians should not be blackmailed. Nigerians should not allow themselves to be blackmailed by the oil marketers,” the Minister said.