Black Market Forex PMS Price: Kachikwu Must Think Nigerians Are Dumb
Peregrino Brimah
When I strongly criticized the Minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu for artificially creating a fuel scarcity in his words, “saving fuel from Nigeria’s refineries for the rainy day,” and of course, not importing enough, while I thought he was dumb, I never imagined it was intentional. Now it has come to light that the fuel scarcity was intentional, Kachikwu was not dumb but rather he gambles that we Nigerians are.
The recent utterings from the government and their agents, putting the recent scarcity and its derived price hike (at N150-250/liter) as the justification for the new price hike is evidence that the unexplainable shortage of PMS was deliberate and a staged hardship to introduce the planned price increase.
As I pointed out in an earlier publication, the new price of petrol was calculated simply based on 100% importation via black market forex; with Nigerian banks having been authorized by Godwin Emefiele to sell at black market rates as the new “malo,”
At CBN 197, fuel was N86.50
At Black market 325, it will be what?
325 x 86.50/ 197= N141
That’s how Kachikwu came up with his N135-145 range. Nigeria is now betrothed to the bank black market cabal.
Let’s summarize 10 factors/questions that Kachikwu, who I believe must resign, should but cannot address:
1, Why the false advert in all national dailies that “the subsidy was just removed” when we all know the subsidy has since been totally removed as the government announced in December of 2016?
2, Why the false announcement of a so-called downstream deregulation when the government has put a lower boundary of N135 on the sale of PMS? If deregulation is real then there shouldn’t there be no lower hiked limit?
3, Will the NNPC also source for dollars from the blackmarket? If not refer to question below:
4, As the NNPC currently imports at 100%, during this deregulation, what percent will the NNPC still import? 50%/ 40%? Or none? If the NNPC still imports let’s say 40%. How much will it sell that cheaper fuel for? N85.60? N100? Or N135? If it is sold at the new lower limit of N135, does this mean Kachikwu plans for the FGN to make a killing off of Nigerians in hardship?
5, When the NNPC imports fuel, will 100% of fuel it imported using the CBN dollar rate of N197, be sold at NNPC stations at less than N100/liter? if not, how will corruption not be enhanced just like Diezani’s days with Kachikwu and Godwin’s friends and other fuel marketer cabal not selling same CBN rate imported fuel at 50% profit from private stations? is this not the same subsidy corruption now a dollar disparity corruption?
6, Why did Godwin Emefiele not release enough dollars for Kachikwu to import the demanded fuel so there was no artificial scarcity all along? Was this Godwin’s choice or Kachikwu’s?
7, Will the NNPC stop importing fuel all together so there are no two drastically different, corrupting prices and corruption is prevented will all suppliers needing to get dollars from the black market?
8, Godwin Emefiele this January promised Dangote unfettered access to CBN dollars for his private $14 billion refinery. Other big business cabal also have been promised dollars as Buhari told Al Jazeera. Whereas small businesses are the largest employers, employing 70% of labour; but they do not have access to CBN dollars. Why is Nigeria’s dollars being given/why are the big cabal being subsidized with CBN billions of dollars while the last benefit the masses get, a paltry $3 billion forex/annum used to import our fuel, is now taken away?
9, According to Nigeria’s constitution, the CBN regulates the forex rate for the banks. Why is the illegality of banks operating now as black markets with unregulated rates, being catapulted by another illegality: the supply of PMS to the masses based on government promoted black market dollar sourcing?
10, Are the following solutions:
a. Devaluing the naira to prevent the corruption of the dual fuel import rates;
b. Redirecting dollars from Dangote and other cabal’s private businesses for the importation of adequate PMS to save and serve the masses or;
c. Cancelling all NNPC CBN 197 rate based import of PMS to allow a single black market based rate;
not all more legitimate solutions in the best interest of Nigerians?
The current system without a doubt was imposed by the cabal. With the system as announced, the friends of Kachikwu and Godwin Emefiele will again amass billions as did the friends of Diezani. I wonder if Nigeria has not had enough of this already.