Oil marketers have commenced a reduction of their workforce due to their inability to pay staff salaries, Premium Times reports.

Some of the marketers, who preferred anonymity, confirmed on Wednesday in Lagos that they resorted to adopt a massive sack of their workers as the federal government had yet to pay an outstanding N650 billion debt owed them. They said they did not have any other option to control their increasing debt burden of borrowing to pay salaries than to embark on staff disengagement.

They, therefore, urged the federal government to expedite action on the payment of outstanding debts owed to marketers, in order to help them to sustain their businesses. The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) on February 20 gave the government a 14-day ultimatum to settle the N650 billion debts owed to its members.

The Executive Secretary of the Association, Olufemi Adewole, had said failure to meet the deadline would compel marketers to disengage their workers. Mr. Adewole alleged that a letter was written to the presidency on January 24 but the government had failed to respond to the plight of the petroleum marketers.