Adewale Sanyaolu
Indications have emerged that the inability of the Federal Government and oil marketers to reach a truce over the N800 billion subsidy debts may not be unconnected with the reluctant nature of commercial Banks to accept FG’s promissory note.
A Promissory Note, or Note Payable, is a contract between a party who has borrowed money from another party that has lent the money. In addition to cases of borrowing money (personal or business loans), a Promissory Note may also be useful in cases of large purchases whereby the buyer cannot pay the full purchase price upfront and promises to pay the remainder of the price at a later date.
A top management staff of a second generation Bank who spoke to Daily Sun in confidence said it was unfortunate that Government has turned around blacking oil marketers as saboteurs, where in actual fact government is not sincere.
The official said no Bank in Nigeria may be will to accept promissory notes from the Federal Government because the document is as worthless as a piece of paper, adding that Government had in the time past failed to fulfill its obligations on promissory notes.
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He explained further that oil marketers rejected the promissory notes because it will eventually amount to discounted invoice because due to the time value of money as Government would not be paying the money immediately, they(marketers) cannot get the actual value as some percentage would have been knocked off the amount to cover for time lost.
‘‘ Banks are in business to make money. Unfortunately, the Federal Government has ruined a lot of businesses because they default on so many occasions leading to the eventual collapse of businesses.
Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria(DAPPMAN) had last week denied claims by the Federal Government that it approved a payment of N236 billion as part of the N800 billion subsidy debt.
Executive Secretary of DAPPMAN, Mr.Olufemi Adewole, denied reaching any agreement with the Federal Government over the settlement of the fuel subsidy arrears owed its members.
Adewole said the meeting it had with Government ended in a deadlock as the offers made by the FG failed to meet the legitimate demands of the association.
We urge the DMO to process and pay marketers in cash for their outstanding forex differentials and interest component claims, together with the amount already approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the National Assembly.”
Meanwhile,DAPPMAN has suspended an earlier directive to its member depots to shut down all loading operations until the Federal Government paid all its monetary claims.
In an earlier statement signed by Adewole, last Saturday, DAPPMAN accused the government of failing to pay outstanding debts which has made it unable to pay staff salaries beyond November 30.
He noted that staff members were disengaged to avoid not getting paid for work done, a situation he noted meant member depots should no longer load petroleum products across the country.
However, in another statement signed by Adewole early yesterday, he said the intervention of relevant stakeholders has compelled the association to suspend the order while the government figures out how to solve the issues by Friday this week.