The Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria has said the refusal of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to obey Federal Government’s directive on Naira transactions for ports charges is contributing to the fall in value of naira and the rise in price of petrol.
This is contained in an issued statement by the Vice Chairman II, Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Mahmood Tukur, at the weekend.
Recall that the Federal Government, through its downstream regulator, and based on agreement reached with stakeholders, directed ports charges to be collected in Naira. The directive was contained in a communiqué issued in November 2021, and signed by heads of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulation Authority, the then Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), and DAPPMAN.
Tukur alleged that the agencies were yet to comply with directives and continued to collect charges in dollars.
Explaining further, he stated that “The dollar price is practically driven by demand; if there is no supply, obviously the price will rise. So, every time a vessel needs to berth, we have to pay ports charges in dollars. However, we are saying that can be paid in Naira. That’s one way of actually taking demand (for dollars) out of the market and it will reduce the foreign exchange adverse effects.
“If these products are consumed locally and destined for local ports, why are the NPA and NIMASA charging in dollars? They should simply implement a directive given by the Government; and we can assure that this will also bring down the price of petroleum products”, Tukur said.
The statement also quoted the DAPPMAN Chairman, Winifred Akpani, as saying that the forex conundrum was affecting petroleum marketers.
She noted that to charter a vessel that could convey 20,000 metric tonnes of PMS within Nigeria for 10 days, freight charges are being denominated in dollars, and described the trend as “quite burdensome”, which made operational expenses and procurement increasingly difficult for its members.
Akpani stated that amid this inclement situation, petroleum marketers compete unfavourably with the NNPC which has the upper advantage as the supplier of last resort.
“Without a level-playing field, especially one that guarantees access to dollars for all marketers at official rate, marketers’ ability to import products is continually and severely hampered as a significant portion of their operations and critical operational and capital expenses are denominated in dollars.
“Full availability of products, particularly PMS, or petrol, will experience a marked boost when access is granted to forex at an official rate for all operators and subsidies removed completely.
