…NNPC is working on short, long-term measures to end crisis
As Nigerians groan under the hardship of fuel scarcity, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu announced Friday that the crisis over the Prime Motor Spirit (PMS) supply will end in few weeks, precisely in April.
The new date is contrary to an earlier statement in which he was quoted as saying that the current queues at petrol stations would persist till late May.
The minister who doubles as the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC), was also quoted to have added that he was not a magician with a magic wand to make the queues disappear overnight.
But the glimmer of hope appeared on Friday when the minister, in a fresh move to calm frayed nerves, announced that scarcity of petrol will end in a few weeks.
The minister said in a statement by the spokesman of NNPC Mohammed Garba Deen that measures were in the works to ensure a short- and long-term plan to end the scarcity in April.
“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 problems in the short and long term,” he said.
NNPC calls for understanding, saying it is working on long and short term measures to find lasting solutions to the challenge.
The Corporation, in the statement, said it empathised with the difficulties Nigerians were presently going through due to the current fuel situation, even as it assured that the government was not taking their patience for granted, adding that the scarcity-induced hardship will soon be alleviated.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Kachikwu is working tirelessly round the clock to ensure relief is brought to Nigerians, the NNPC spokesman said, its immediate concern is to make petrol available through the interventions and processes put in place to eliminate the queues within the next one to two weeks.
Garba Deen disclosed that a cargo containing 42 million litres has completely discharged petrol while two more cargoes with 44 million litres are currently discharging, adding that 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,” the statement noted.
NNPC added: “While not resorting to excuses, we would like to re-emphasise that this present management of NNPC and indeed the government inherited huge and complicated problems with respect to importation, distribution and pricing of petroleum products.
“Nigerians would recall that N522 billion meant for payment of fuel subsidy, covering the last quarter of 2014 and the entire 2015 was approved by the Senate in December 2015 in order to pay for subsidy arrears inherited by this government.”
The Corporation further noted that for long term solutions, it was working to put in place machinery to ensure that the refineries are fixed and working optimally, while the pipelines which have been under attack for some time now are repaired.
-Leadership
