The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has clarified that the ₦100 billion grant it requested from President Bola Tinubu is a loan and not free money.
The PUNCH recalls PETROAN recently asking Tinubu for a ₦100 billion grant to help its members cope with the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
The retailers said the grant would help stem the threat of job losses occasioned by the removal of subsidies.
It could be recalled that Tinubu removed fuel subsidies when he assumed office in 2023, culminating in a sharp increase in the cost of petroleum products, especially petrol and diesel.
Marketers said the cost of lifting a 33,000 truck rose from an average of ₦7 million in May 2023 to ₦30 million in October 2024, when the Federal Government fully deregulated the downstream sector.
As a result, some marketers were reportedly sent out of the business when they could no longer afford the cost.
It was also gathered that some retailers now contribute money to buy one truck of premium motor spirit, which they share to sell in their filling stations.
In a document made available to our correspondent, PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry said 10,000 marketers could close shops if the federal government did not support them.
He said, “PETROAN requests a grant of N100bn from President Bola Tinubu to help prevent the closure of 10,000 marketers’ businesses.
“The request is in response to the threat of job losses that would result from the removal of the fuel subsidy.”
Speaking during an interview with our correspondent, Gillis-Harry explained that the association was not seeking free money, but it wanted the fund to be kept in an energy bank where its members could access loans.
He noted, “Today, you can see us asking the government to give us N100bn as seed into the energy bank.
We didn’t say they should give us free money. We said, ‘Put it in the energy bank and give it to us as a single-digit interest loan.’ With that, the fuel price will come down.
“That we are asking for free money? No! We are only saying that the government should put the grant in Nigeria’s energy bank. Set up the energy bank of Nigeria and put the N100bn there as seed capital. N100bn is nothing, but it’s going to change the content of the business.”
