The Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria (LUPAN) has condemned the issuance of license to its members by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

The Executive Secretary of the association, Mr Emeka Obodike, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos on Monday.

Obidike said that the association had for some time received complaints by its members that they were being made to pay dues by NAFDAC or have their consignments confiscated if unable to pay.

He said that the agency usually went ahead to confiscate their consignments in spite of being shown genuine Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) license.

According to him, they always insisted on being presented with NAFDAC licenses and proof of the dues being paid.

“Severally, we have written on behalf of our members protesting this state of affair and categorically stating that our members being blenders are duly licensed by the Department of Petroleum Resources to import, store and blend base oil in Nigeria.

“The base oil is a mineral based, crude oil derivative and is classified as petroleum oil and oil obtained from bituminous minerals.

“It is in the national list of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff and Fiscal Policy Measures for 2015, and is not obtained from chemical synthesis.

“By the Petroleum Act, the DPR is the primary regulator of the petroleum sector and its sub sector.

“Their continued refusal to acknowledge this fact could be construed as a blatant disregard and encroachment on the authority and jurisdiction of the DPR.

“We are informed by the DPR, on relating this state of affairs to its management, that in spite of the clarification given on base oil being petroleum based, the agency remains adamant in their demand for dues.

“Indigenous blenders are constantly are being threatened with the shutting down of their plants and seizure of their consignments and are persistently being faced with the risk of losing their businesses,” he said.

The executive director said that operators in the lubricant sector were already beleaguered by a myriad of stifling levies and duties from other government agencies such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, the Nigeria Navy, NIMASA, and Nigeria Customs Services.

According to him, other oppressive and debilitating factors are inaccessibility of FOREX for the purchase of base oil and additives, both being 100 per cent dependent on importation; exploitative and fluctuating exchange rates.

“Oppressive bank interest rates on loans as operators have had to personally source funds for their business through banks.

“The lubricant sector has been lamentably bereft of intervention funds and schemes to alleviate the financial burden of operators; high tariff on additives and crippling policies for the sector, to mention a few.

“All these, when incorporated into the price of finished products makes them more costly and consequently less attractive to consumers.

“The local lubricant market is currently reeling from the effect of the rampant and wholesale importation of base oil resulting from the indiscriminate issuance of licenses by NAFDAC.

“It is expected of every agency of the government to be principally loyal and committed to every programme and policy of the government; particularly as will strengthen and revitalise its economy

“Manufacturing is the bedrock of any economy, and should be encouraged on every stratum.

“We are most disheartened and disillusioned that any agency, union or group can be this unpatriotic, surreptitiously undermining and frustrating the government’s effort to create a more conducive environment for businesses to thrive.

“Should this blatant usurpation of the powers of the DPR be left to fester, a situation would arise wherein every agency of the government will unilaterally confer upon themselves the authority to license the importation of base oil.

“This will however, result in increased cost of production and glutting of the market with excess product.

“This will inevitably find its way into the hands of unscrupulous elements that fake, counterfeit and blend below standards to minimize costs,” he said.

Obidike appealed to the Federal Government to call to order the coordinating ministries of both the DPR and NAFDAC with a view to delineating the jurisdiction of both agencies’ with respect to licensing of base oil importation in Nigeria.

“We on our part affirm our commitment to supporting its economic agenda within our capabilities as manufacturers and patriotic citizens of Nigeria,” he said