The Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) has said higher diesel prices and the prevailing petrol crisis are due to a scarcity of foreign exchange (forex) to import diesel.
They urged President Muhammadu Buhari to grant a five-month emergency window for forex for increased diesel import.
Currently, a litre of diesel sells for over N750, a situation affecting petrol tankers and other haulage services as well as banks and industries.
Speaking at the second annual National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Thursday, President of NOGASA, Beneth Korie said depots spend about N20 million a week on diesel to power them to supply petrol while struggling to pay salaries.
He said the high diesel price has raised the administrative cost of the marketers.
“What we are asking is an emergency intervention on dollars. Just make dollars available at the official rate, I give you my word, diesel prices will crash. For as long as our members get dollars from the black market, the diesel price will continue to be high.”
Korie said the Federal Government of Nigeria should fix the four refineries and support the Dangote Refinery project with forex and increase crude for the modular refineries to cut overdependence on product import.
NOGASA sought the National Assembly’s review of the taxation law to remove Value Added Tax (VAT) affecting the petroleum product supply and distribution chain.
“The association urges the National Assembly relevant sectors to enact a bill for the establishment of energy bank for easy transactions in petroleum products and the oil and gas sector.”
While NOGASA called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for forex support on diesel imports, it appealed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to grant temporary tax relief on products until the global diesel crisis is resolved.
“We have workers to pay salaries and so if the government doesn’t do something fast, it will affect our businesses and affect salaries,” said Korie.
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