The Federal House of Representatives had after its emergency meeting on Monday with Airlines Operators of Nigeria (AON), asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to make available six million litres of JetA1 (aviation fuel) to aviation fuel marketers.
Recall that AON had threatened to suspend operations effecrive Monday, but withdrew the threat on Sunday after pressure from the Federal Government.
The airline operators lamented the unavailability of aviation fuel to keep with its operations.
Some of the resolution reached in the meeting was that, Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority should as much as possible, grant waivers that do not touch on the security and safety of the country for importers of the products.
Also reached in the meeting was that airline operators must commence, as soon as possible, the process of securing a license for the importation of aviation fuel to avoid suspicion over the landing cost of the product and other associated logistic issues.
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila recalled some of the resolutions that included the sale of aviation fuel at N500 per litre and the granting of aviation fuel import license to the operators which was arrived at during the last meeting.
The NNPC was also questioned for the 25,000 tons of ATK approved for the airlines as a palliative in addition to the availability of the products to the airlines for the next three months.
In his response, NNPC GMD, Mele Kyari stated that the three months supply of Jet A1 to the chosen marketers by the AOAN is assured.
Kyari said the NNPC cannot have a fixed price because it is glabalky market driven.
He said, “So you cannot hold unto any price and indeed what you have seen in the media is N700 reference point. It cannot be a reference point. It depends on the market condition. It can be higher than N700 depending on the market. This market shifts. As we speak, it is closely related to the price of crude oil.
“It is our role to ensure we intervene. We did. We brought in products so that we can dampen the price. In March and April, we brought in cargo and made it available to the entire industry at N460.
Appreciating the stakeholder for putting heads together to resolve the issue, the Speaker said, “Rounding up on a positive note, I appreciate the airline operators for being nationalistic in calling off the strike as I hope that the outcome of this meeting will usher in a lasting solution to these challenges of Jet A1 bearing in mind that there is a laissez-faire economy of demand and supply.
He said, “We are at the precipice today in Nigeria. It is a crucial moment for us. There is a crisis at hand. The shutdown of airline operations has the potential of shutting down this government. We cannot sit here as stakeholders and fold our arms and watch this happen.
“I hope that the outcome of this meeting will usher in a lasting solution to these challenges of Jet A1 bearing in mind that there is a laissez-faire economy of demand and supply.
“As part of the resolutions, it was also agreed that, as a long-term solution, the airline operators must commence, the process of securing a license for the importation of aviation fuel to avoid suspicion over the landing cost of the product and other associated logistic issues.”
On the part of AON, Allen Onyema, vice-president of AON, explained that the scarcity can be addressed if airliners are allowed to purchase aviation fuel directly.
He said, “We were told here at the last meeting that fuel would be sold to us at N500 which we protested that it was still on the high side because even when fuel was selling at N200 or N250, the operating cost was about 40 per cent.
“It rose to N400 and N450, and that was when we were alarmed, and you noticed that everybody tweaked his inventory when we now raised our base fare to about N50,000, which did not address the matter.
“We were invited to the house, and when we came here, it was reached that they would give us fuel at N500 within three days. That never happened. We continued writing, and nothing happened.
“Much later, we were invited by the midstream and downstream authority and we were told that the president approved 25,000 metric tonnes for us as a palliative to help us. We were very grateful to the president. We were happy. We were told to nominate marketers that would market this product for us.
“We were told to have a meeting with these marketers. We called all the marketers and held a meeting with them. We decided the logistics, so they would take their logistical costs and everything, and at the end of the day that fuel was getting to them, they told us at N335, so we put everything together, and it would be getting to less than N400 for the cost, and we said even if they sell to us at N450 it would be okay.
“We were told that a week later that is when the consignment would be arriving in Nigeria and when this happened, the next we got to hear from the marketers was that they had already been given the consignment that we were all jostling for. So we waited thinking that they would sell as agreed. They never.”
He said that he called on the attention of the NNPC Boss but no action was taken.
“I called the MD of NNPC in the presence of our members. He replied, saying there was no way they would leave us to get direct products that that was dangerous.
“With due respect, Mr Speaker, we were not striking. We did not intend to go on a strike. It was not a strike. What AON was saying on Friday when we released our communique was that we do not have the money anymore to pay,” he said.
