The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) on Saturday said that monopoly of petroleum products’ supply is not good for Nigeria.
Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mele Kyari recently said NNPCL has again become the sole importer of fuel because local private firms are unable to obtain foreign currency.
But Executive Secretary, MOMAN, Mr. Clement isong, in an interview called on the federal government to make foreign exchange available to private companies who have been licensed to import fuel.
He stated that it is not good for the country to have a monopolist in fuel supply.
He also said that given the assurances of the NNPCL of sufficient stock of fuel, he was optimistic that there would be no fuel scarcity during the yuletide.
He opined that there are some areas in the country that are currently experiencing fuel scarcity, it could be because of logistics challenges.
Isong said: “There is supply. If NNPCL says there is supply, I want to believe them. There is supply. Sometimes, there might be few logistics challenges here and there but not enough to cause panic. The important thing is that there is supply and wherever there are logistics challenges, people need to move quickly to resolve them.
“I am hoping so if NNPCL has said that Nigerians’ will enjoy the yuletide without fuel scarcity.
“Government has to make foreign exchange available to the market so that you do not have a situation of having one supplier. One supply can never be good. It is not for the country. It is not good for the corporation itself. So, the sooner the government makes foreign exchange available, the better so that people can import. The sooner that Dangote refinery comes on stream, the better.
“They are alternatives to getting the products from NNPCL. The sooner the NNPCL Port Harcourt refinery is up and running, the better for everybody. They are alternative sources of supply. That is what we are looking for. Having one source of supply is not good for the economy, it is not good for the industry and it is not good for the market.”
