Business
Association Hails FG’s Plan To Pay Marketers’ N500bn
The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMAN) on Wednesday commended Federal Government on its plans to commence payment of N500 billion debt to marketers for imported fuel and interest on bank loans.
Mr Dapo Abiodun , the Chairman of DAPPMA, made the commendation in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
He said that the marketers were owed in excess of N500 billion by the Federal Government.
Abiodun said that the huge debt was accumulated debt to petroleum marketers under the aegis of the Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA).
He commended the government in its bid to ensure that issues affecting the associations were dealt immediately to ensure hitch-free supply and distribution of petroleum products.
According to him, the minister of finance had collated these claims and forwarded them to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval as the total amount due to marketers.
He said that because the money was not captured in the last budget, it had to go the National Assembly, which according to him, could not approve it before it went on recess.
“Our prayer was that the payment will begin before the end of July, but if this is not the case, bank interests will continue to be mounting up.
“The situation is getting worse, most marketers have lost the economic power to even pay their staff because this amount of money has accrued over time.
“This time last year when the exchange rate was changed, we had transactions that were done at the rate of N197 to the dollar.
“The thinking is that once you get naira, you could go to CBN and change the naira at N197 to a dollar, CBN, however, changed it to N305.
“So, the same naira you are supposed to get has become double. It is so bad. We know that the FG is doing much to ensure we are paid, but there is just so much bureaucracy involved.
“We are hopeful that the National Assembly will be gracious enormously to come back, if only to address this issue and go back to their recess,’’ he said.
Abiodun, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Heyden Petroleum Ltd., said that the permanent solution was to remove the cap on the pump price of petrol and fully liberalise the downstream sector.
He said that inability to pay or service the loans had not only stalled their further importation of fuel, but was threatening the operation of the affected banks and the nation’s financial industry at large.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.