By Ogaga Ariemu
Oil suppliers have lamented that the foreign exchange crisis and the implementation of a 7.5 per cent Value Added Tax on Automatic Gas Oil, popularly known as diesel, had pushed up the cost of the commodity to between N900 and N950/litre in many states.
Beneth Korie, the National President of the Natural Oil and Gas Supplies Association, disclosed this to journalists on Monday.
According to him, the country continues to pile up pressure against the Naira by relying solely on importing diesel and fuel.
He urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to get Nigeria’s refineries working to reduce the dependence on importing.
Korie also called on the president to intervene in the forex crisis to halt the upward rise of diesel.
“Diesel price is now approaching N900 to N950/litre depending on where you buy it. Before the introduction of VAT on diesel by the FIRS, diesel was around N650/litre.
“Our refineries were built by human beings and can be fixed by human beings. Nigerian engineers can fix these refineries instead of us depending on imports. It is not sustainable”, he stated.
DAILY POST recalls that after the floating of the Naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria in June, the country’s currency had continued to slump against the dollar, which stood at N950/$1 at the parallel market.
However, on Monday, the CBN vowed to clamp down on forex speculators to solve the crisis.
