ABUJA — The uncertainties surrounding the fuel subsidy regime could be blamed for the incessant return of queue to the filling station across the country, it was learnt, yesterday.

A few of the major and independent marketers are sceptical about refund from the government and want to extract some kind of  assurance from the government on how the difference would be resolved before going ahead to import the product.

But the Federal Government has assured that the issue would be resolved.

Government has also come out to douse the fears of imminent fuel scarcity in the country, saying the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has enough petroleum products to last the country for at least 33 days in case of any emergency.

A senior officer in the Presidency who spoke on the issue said contrary to reports, the country was not short of petroleum products.

The officer who preferred not to be mentioned said it was untrue that the major and independent marketers had suspended fuel importation over the subsidy probe.

The source, however, confirmed that there were minor issues that needed to be resolved and that was not to say that marketers were not importing fuels.

The source further added that “the issues raised by the marketers over subsidy payment are being addressed by the Federal Government.

“Because of the controversies that trailed the subsidy removal and the eventual adjustment of the pump price of petrol, a few of the marketers really want to know the true position of things as far as the payment of subsidy is concerned, whether the government is going to pay any subsidy or not. The Federal Government has actually reassured the marketers that all the outstanding issues will be addressed,” the source said.

This not withstanding, the source boasted that NNPC, as at today, has products that could last the nation for at least 33 days without any problem.

Dispels rumour

“Nigerians should not panic because of the alleged drop in the volume of fuel imports into the country. The rumour is designed by some unscrupulous elements in the country to cause panic for Nigerians. There is no need for panic at all as the government is determined to eradicate fuel scarcity in the country.”

.

“President Goodluck Jonathan is determined to address the nagging issues in the downstream sector of the economy. Infact all the stations have fuel and there is no cause for alarm. The Federal Government is working hard to eliminate queues from our petrol stations,” the source further said..

Already, the  coordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance, Ngozi Okono-Iweala, while appearing before the house committee probing fuel  subsidy gave an assurance that the government would need to accommodate subsidy money in the 2012 budget.

This she explained followed the readjustment of pump price of petrol.

She further disclosed that the government was owing marketers an outstanding N600 billion on subsidy and noted that N155 billion has been set aside in the 2012 budget to service part of the subsidy debt.

Also, Dr. Bright Okogu, Director General (DG) Budget Office, last week confirmed that the Federal Government was actually working on the exact estimate of the subsidy to be forwarded to the national assembly for consideration following the N97 pump price adjustment.

“We are working on the

amendment and next week is a possibility but right now, nobody can say exactly what we will be presenting to the national assembly,” Okogu said.

The DG further said, “nobody can say for now because we need to look at all the elements so that we can be as close as the real amount we need for the subsidy”.

He also described the prevailing oil price in the international market as one of the factors that would be put into consideration in drawing up the subsidy estimate.

According to him, “It is not something we have to do in a hurry. We have to be careful and look at the oil price in the international market before we say what and what we will need for the subsidy. It is after that consideration that the amendment would be forwarded to the national assembly.”