Senate to quiz Kachikwu over fuel crisis

The senate has summoned Ibe Kachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum resources, to appear before its committee on petroleum downstream on Tuesday over fuel scarcity in the country.

Jibrin Barau, chairman of senate committee on petroleum downstream, said shortly after an on-the-spot assessment of filling stations in FCT that the summons became necessary following the hardship on Nigerians.

He decried that in spite of assurances from the ministry that the situation would be brought under control, it had lingered.

“We have invited the minister of state to appear before the committee tomorrow to tell us about the fuel scarcity problem and the strategy he is employing to solve it,” he said.

“We will expect him to give a date when the problem will be resolved permanently; this is the course of action we have taken.

“We are not satisfied because this problem has gone unabated for too long; the situation is appalling and it is a major problem.

“We gave the ministry enough time and space to put its act together to solve this problem.’’

Barau said the senate would take a position on the matter after hearing from the minister of state, who is also the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).