Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) yesterday alleged that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have continued to dollarize transactions a year after the Federal Government’s directive on using the naira for port charges.
Port fees should be collected in naira, according to a statement issued last November and signed by the heads of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), and DAPPMAN.
The attempt to implement the decision, according to the second vice chairman of DAPPMAN, Mammod Tukur, has not been successful.
The marketers gave the order to the appropriate agencies to carry it out.
The demand for dollars essentially determines the price. The price will go up if there is no supply. Therefore, in this case, they are required to pay port fees in dollars each time a vessel wants to berth.
Winifred Akpani, the association’s chairman, explained how the foreign exchange issue was affecting petroleum marketers. She noted that to charter a ship to transport 20,000 metric tonnes of gasoline within Nigeria for 10 days, freight charges are denominated in dollars valued at about N220 million at the official exchange rate of N440 and N440 million for marketers, who must obtain foreign currency on the black market for N880.
This suggests an extra cost of N11 per gallon for this transaction due to the difference between the official and parallel foreign exchange markets. Jetty costs for the same transaction, once more levied in dollars, total N15.4 million at official exchange rates and N30.8 million for petroleum marketers who purchase their fuel on the black market.
