The House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum Downstream and Midstream yesterday promised that the long queues at fuel stations across the country would be over in “a couple of days”.
Addressing a joint press conference at the National Assembly Complex, the Committee on Petroleum Downstream Chairman Ikenga Ugochinyere and his Petroleum Midstream Committee counterpart, Odianosen Okojie, claimed that hoarders are behind the scarcity.
They insisted that fuel was available and asked law enforcement agencies to arrest any marketers found hoarding the product. According to them, transport vessels’ challenges disrupted the supply and distribution to marketers who were supposed to take the products offshore to onshore.
Ugochinyere said:
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“We strongly frown on the activities of middlemen who have taken advantage of the short disruption of supply, to maximise profit and generate an inordinate gain for themselves to the detriment of our people.
“We hereby call on security forces to support the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners and other key stakeholders in the distribution chain to ensure that acts of economic sabotage that has to do with hoarding, arbitrary increase in price, product diversion and smuggling are detected and dealt with.
“Our people have been through a lot in the last few days and we must not plunge them into further pains. “We appeal to all traders and those rendering services not to unduly take advantage of this temporary challenge, which will be cleared in the next few days.”
“We hereby call on security forces to support the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners and other key stakeholders in the distribution chain to ensure that acts of economic sabotage that has to do with hoarding, arbitrary increase in price, product diversion and smuggling are detected and dealt with.
“Our people have been through a lot in the last few days and we must not plunge them into further pains. “We appeal to all traders and those rendering services not to unduly take advantage of this temporary challenge, which will be cleared in the next few days.”
He added: “We are convinced that this is temporary and in a couple of days, we shall get over it. “From our investigations, we have found out that there is availability of fuel. “We have on good authority that we have in our storage facilities, at least, about 1.5 billion litres of fuel that can last for 30 days.
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