Reps give NNPC 7-day ultimatum to end ‘artificial’ petrol scarcity

The house of representatives has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to end the current petrol scarcity crisis within seven days.

The legislators passed the resolution during a plenary session on Tuesday following the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, sponsored by Saidu Abdullahi from Niger state.

This comes after the Department of State Services (DSS) issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the national oil company and marketers to resolve the ongoing petrol distribution crisis, last Thursday.

In the past few weeks, the nation has been grappling with petrol scarcity which has affected businesses, and made commuting difficult.

While stakeholders blamed the oil company for the crisis, NNPC said the petrol scarcity experienced across the country was caused by ongoing road projects in Lagos.

Moving the motion on Tuesday, the lawmaker described the petrol scarcity as “artificial”, saying the situation has caused “untold hardships” on Nigerians “affecting economic activities and making the already trying times in the country more difficult”.

He said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is making “advanced excuses to justify the fuel scarcity”.

“Intelligence reports on current fuel scarcity gathered by our securities agencies indicated that there is a deliberate plan by some oil marketers to derail the effort of the government in the distribution of fuel in the country by hoarding the petroleum products and thereby creating artificial scarcity all over the country,” Abdullahi said.

“While the fuel scarcity is heating petroleum stations of some major marketers that are currently selling fuel on government regulated price, some independent marketers who operate in the market have enough petroleum products selling at unregulated prices.

“Most of those fueling stations have resulted in selling fuel at over N300 per litre. It is observed with dismay that those who are gaining from this artificial fuel scarcity appear to be smiling home as a result of this ugly development and this has the potency to provoke innocent Nigerians against the government.

“Generally, there is a hue and cry over this ugly development and unfortunately, those that are charged with the responsibility of taking control of this situation are not doing enough to combat the ugly development. This appears to be a dangerous signal that the government must tackle without further delay to restore normalcy.”

Abdullahi further said the lingering fuel scarcity has compounded the woes of millions of Nigerians struggling to survive as “prices of items continue to make a rapid surge”.

Following the adoption of the motion, the lawmakers asked the NMDPRA to collaborate with the police and DSS to ensure that petrol is sold at the regulated price and in all retail outlets.

They subsequently mandated the committee on petroleum resources (downstream) and legislative compliance to ensure compliance.

Last week, at a meeting with DSS, NNPC said it has 1.9 billion litres of petrol in stock as it assured Nigerians of steady supply to quell the lingering scarcity across the country.