President of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria Dr. Gillis-Harry has explained the rationale behind PETROAN’s request for the 100 billion naira intervention fund, which he believes is essential for alleviating the financial pressures retail outlet owners face due to high-interest rates.
“First of all, the request for 100 billion naira intervention fund is requested because it is going to help us to cushion the cost of money in our business and that will go a long way to make petroleum products available and affordable to Nigerians,” he said.
“Where that money can be sourced from, we have a budget normally every year that this 100 billion naira will be just a little drop.”
Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Monday, Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), discussed the challenges facing the Nigerian petroleum sector and PETROAN’s recent requests, including the privatisation of Kaduna and Warri refineries and a 100 billion naira grant from the federal government.
He discussed the privatisation of the country’s refineries, highlighting the failed attempt in the past and his stance on the issue.
“For the privatisation, I was president of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce when the earlier privatisation attempted by President Olusegun Obasanjo, we as a chamber rose up and let him know that we have businesses operating in Rivers State and we should have a say and a stake in how that business works,” Dr. Gillis-Harry explained.
“Of course, as usual, government wakes up with policy and they want to run with it without digging deep and driving through the process on how those policies can be effectively implemented and of course the privatisation process did not work.” He added.
He stressed that the government’s involvement in business has been a challenge.
“We do know that government getting involved in business is one challenge that we need to address because anybody that is saddled with the opportunity… often, they see it as their Christmas and New Year gift every day. Once it is run by a private business, the concept is completely different because we are profit driven, we are efficiency driven,” he noted. “With PETROAN and other major stakeholders across the country, we believe we can make the privatisation experience very, very successful.”
Turning to the removal of the fuel subsidy, Dr. Gillis-Harry outlined the effects on retail outlet owners and the benefits of the proposed 100 billion naira grant.
“Our membership strength is about 6,700, we have a lot of other associations that have retailers…we are talking first for us and others who can be able to use those facilities,” he explained. “Now, before removal of fuel subsidy, a retail outlet owner can go to NNPC and buy one product for 45 thousand litres for less than 9 million naira, today, that is not the case, we are talking about 39 to 50 million to do the same thing.”
He emphasised the urgency of the intervention, explaining that without it, many retail outlets are at risk of failing.
“You discover that many retail outlets cannot buy products and if they cannot buy to sustain the supply of product in the station, you’ll be driving several miles to buy products which you could just buy within 400 metres,” he said. “When this becomes the situation, what does a patriotic organisation like us do, we do analysis and we advise both the government, the private sectors and even us the players on how we can be able to address these issues and get answers.”
Addressing concerns about the price of fuel, particularly in light of recent projections by IPMAN that fuel prices might drop to 500 naira, Dr. Gillis-Harry clarified PETROAN’s position.
“We supported the fact that prices will go up and come down, we cannot in any justification compute that anytime soon, PMS will be sold at 500 naira,” he said. “That is not what we mean, but what we meant by supporting the statement is that the possibility of price fluctuating is going to be there and we are trying to look at what market forces that can determine that.”
He reassured that PETROAN would always advocate for efficient and affordable petroleum products for Nigerians, while also ensuring that the business remains sustainable for the sector.
“PETROAN by all standards will do everything to make sure that Nigerians get petroleum products efficiently and affordably and we also have to understand that this is business, if the business is not profitable, investors will not be there,” he stated.
Dr. Gillis-Harry shared insights on his recent meeting with Dangote Refinery regarding pricing and supply certainty.
“We have a very clear beneficial discussion with Dangote Refinery and we are very happy with that, our members are already patronising Dangote,” he said. “However, we have some few details that are awaited from the PETROAN side and PETROAN is working on that. We just don’t want to jump into any kind of transaction that will not be sustainable, we want specific product volume that our members can pay for.”
He reiterated that while PETROAN is already buying products from Dangote, the final terms of their business deal are still under discussion.
Dr. Gillis-Harry concluded by making it clear that the call for a 100 billion naira intervention is not a demand for handouts, but rather a necessary step to ensure the sustainability of the petroleum retail sector.
“The 100 billion is not a call for anarchy because we are directly involved in making this economy to be better, by providing PMS that is a critical component now on how the economy grows,” he affirmed. “We are not saying give the money to PETROAN, we are saying set up an energy bank and fund it and give us access to it so anybody who is in this industry can have access to it.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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