The Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria on Wednesday faulted the process followed by the President in the removal of fuel subsidies.
The National Executive Council of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) has faulted the process followed by President Bola Tinubu in the removal of subsidies on petrol, saying measures that ought to have been in place before the removal were not taken.
Speaking during its meeting in Abuja, the marketers insisted that the nation’s refineries are expected to be operational and issues around foreign exchange should have been resolved before the removal of petrol subsidy.
Speaking at the meeting, the President, Benneth Korie warned that the downstream in the country was under serious pressure as stations were shutting down due to harsh operational conditions.
He stated: “Depot owners are so terribly affected by the increasing cost of the crude and exchange rate to the extent that many depots are practically deserted as their owners are unable to secure bank loans to fund their business due to high interest rates.
“Banks are not willing to guarantee funds release to stakeholders as a result of the difficulty, instability and galloping foreign exchange rate. Many depots are presently dried up or out of stock.
“Worst hit are filling stations whose owners find it extremely difficult to secure funds to procure products for their retail outlets and both the independent and major marketers are so terribly affected that as at today, filling stations are shutting down in great numbers on a daily basis and dealers are going out of business with many more on the verge of bankruptcy because of their inability to secure funds to facilitate orders for their stations”.
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