N30bn Debt Owed by FG Crippling our Business, Says A-Z Oil   

*House Committee demands records of crude lifted, PMS supplied daily by marketers

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

Oil marketing conglomerate A-Z Oil Nigeria Ltd yesterday urged the House of Representatives to prevail on the Federal Ministry of Finance to pay the N30 billion debt owed by the Federal Government.

This was as the House Ad-hoc Committee on the Volume of Fuel Consumed Daily in the Country asked oil marketing companies involved in sale of petroleum products to provide records of all crude oil lifted and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) supplied to Nigerians and foreginers daily.

The chairman of the House Committee Hon. Sa’ad Abdulahi at an investigative hearing on the matter yesterday’s said that the Secretariat of the Committee should write to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC demanding explanation from the agency on the circumstances in which Vitol an oil marketing company was engaged in oil lifting.

Abdullahi said that the fourty-three (43) oil companies invited should provide record of crude oil lifting, clean record of PMS supply on daily basis, letter of authority to lift crude oil and other necessary supporting documents on the subject of the investigative hearing.

The Business Development Manager of A-Z Oil Nigeria Limited Mr Haford Udochukwu during his presentation said that the N30bn debt owed the company by the Federal Ministry of Finance being the differential and interest in oil sales was crippling the company’s business.

Udochukwu urged the House Committee to prevail on the Ministry to offset the debt to enable the company continue to do business, adding that it had stopped fuel importation since December 2017 owing to it.

During an earlier presentation before the Committee, a representative of one the invited companies, Ash Energy, Mr Yusuf Alhassan said that company was a group with subsidiaries.

Alhassan stated that there were three different companies under the group dealing with the issue of PMS sale and supply adding that they do reconciliation of documents on PMS used in Nigeria.

He said that fifteen persons from the companies went to London to sign the reconciliation document of PMS used in Nigeria.

But  Prof Julius Ihonvbere and Hon.Uzoma Nkem Abonta said from the presentation the company was involved in shaddy oil deals.

The Committee Chairman while ruling on the issue summoned the Managing Director of one of the company’s subsidiaries Mansel Nigeria Ltd to appear before the probe panel on August 16, 2022 at 11.00am unfailingly.

He added that the Committee will have an unscheduled site visit of the oil facilities of all the invited companies under investigation by the committee.

Some other oil companies invited and grilled by the probe panel were Virgin Forest Energy Ltd, Pinnacle Oil and Gas Ltd, and Ash Group Energy Ltd.