The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources,
Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has said that the fuel scarcity that engulfed the nation would soon end with the short and medium term plans adopted by NNPC to tackle the problem.
Kachukwu said all stakeholders in the sector are
working tirelessly round the clock to ensure
relief is brought to Nigerians with assurance
that the long queues at filling stations and the
general product scarcity will end in the next
two weeks.
A statement at the weekend by Group General
Manager Public Affairs of the NNPC, Garba Deen
Mohammed said, “As at 1600hrs of today, one
(1) PMS cargo containing 42 million litres has
completely discharged, two more PMS cargoes
with a combined ‘Remaining on Board’ (ROB) of
44 million litres are currently discharging while
another PMS cargo containing 44 million litres
is berthed and awaiting discharge.
“We have enough products lined up to ensure
that the supply gap which created the problem
is bridged. In order to ensure effective
distribution we are working with Independent
Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria
(IPMAN), oil majors and over 1,000 NNPC staff,
nationwide to ensure we overcome the obstacles
in the distribution of the products.
“While not resorting to excuses we would like
to emphasise that this present management of
NNPC and indeed the government inherited
huge and complicated problems with respect to
importation, distribution and pricing of petro
leum products. Nigerians would recall that the
sum of N522,258,934,505 meant for payment of
fuel subsidy, covering the last quarter of 2014
(October to December) and the entire 2015 was
approved by the Senate in December 2015 in
order to pay for subsidy arrears inherited by
this government.
“For long term solutions, the NNPC and the
government is working to put in place
machineries to ensure that our refineries are
fixed and working optimally, while the pipelines
which have been under attack for some time
now are repaired. The Direct Sale Direct
Purchase (DSDP) arrangement for crude would
commence in the first week of April and all
these coupled with the fact that the President
has given his support to increase the crude
supply to NNPC to ensure local sufficiency of
products will go a long way to solve the prob
lems in the short and long term.
“We wish all Nigerians a happy Easter holiday
and assure that while we celebrate the Easter,
the NNPC will continue to work hard to bring
the fuel scarcity to a speedy”
Kachikwu had earlier last week announced that
Nigerian may continue to suffer the scarcity till
May.
However, he said, the management of the
Corporation is committed to ending the scarcity
soon.
“Our immediate concern is to make petrol
available through the interventions and
processes put in place so that the queues will
disappear within the next one to two weeks.”
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