There has been an acute scarcity of kerosene in most parts of the country as the major marketers of petroleum products and other independent importers have shunned importation of the product, THISDAY has learnt.
Investigation shows that only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) currently imports kerosene into the country.
As a result of this development, the ex-depot price of one litre of kerosene is N85 in some private depots, bringing the retail price to over N100 in some filling stations.
It was gathered that major and independent marketers no longer import the commodity owing to what one of the major marketers who spoke to THISDAY called “uncertainty over payment of the subsidy.”
He said kerosene subsidy is so exorbitant that major importers fear that they might not get a refund from the government.
Confirming this development, Chairman of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Mr. Sylverius Okoli, told THISDAY last weekend that only the NNPC imports kerosene owing to the huge subsidy involved.
He said: “The problem of kerosene is a distribution problem. Kerosene is imported only by the NNPC because of the subsidy involved. The subsidy is over 100 per cent more than the official pump price and there is a moral issue because if you import a subsidised product, you can’t sell it at any price. So, the problem is that because it is only the NNPC that imports, there is a long queue to take delivery. If you go to NNPC and pay, it will take you up to three months or more to get the product. So, it is a distribution problem.”
But the Zonal Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG), Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, alleged that the government no longer pays subsidy on kerosene because it has been deregulated along with diesel.
He said the government is not also monitoring the sale and distribution of the product.
He said that NNPC depots are not loading kerosene, adding that few independent importers and private tank owners may have caused an artificial scarcity to make more profit on the sale of the product.
However, THISDAY gathered that the government has not been forthcoming on the status of kerosene as there is uncertainty over whether the product has actually been deregulated along with diesel.
THISDAY had reported that as part of the measures to break the cartel that hijacked the petroleum products business in the country, President Musa Yar’Adua had approved the complete deregulation of diesel and other ancillary products.
Before this latest development, diesel was deregulated but NNPC imports and still sell to a cartel at ex-depot price of N60 and the latter sells at exorbitant prices to Nigerians.
For instance, the immediate past administration was accused of enriching few Nigerians by allowing NNPC to import products, which were allocated to these few individuals as patronage.
Following President’ Yar’ Adua’s approval, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) initially increased the ex-depot price of AGO from N60 per litre to N69, while the price of LPFO was hiked from N22 per litre to N44, representing 100 per cent hike.
However, the prices of these products have since increased in line with the international market fundamentals.