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Mission Impossible? House Of Reps Orders NNPC To End Fuel Scarcity In One Week

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The House of Representatives has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Limited to end the artificial scarcity of petroleum products especially the premium motor spirit in the country within the next one week.

The green chamber said the artificial scarcity of petrol has caused untold hardship to millions of Nigerians across the country.

Following a motion moved by Saidu Abdulahi, members unanimously adopted the motion which they said has further grounded economic activities due to no specific reason.

The House worried that if the situation continues, the festive period will bring unbearable hardship to their constituents as the price of goods and services will skyrocket.

“Intelligence reports on current fuel scarcity gathered by our security 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, thereby creating artificial scarcity all over the country,” Abdulahi said.

“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.

“The inability of the regulators of the petroleum sector to end this artificial scarcity of petroleum products forced the Department of State Security Services to issue an ultimatum to the NNPC, and oil marketers to end the artificial scarcity within 48-hours,” the lawmaker added.

The House, therefore, mandated its committees on Petroleum Resources Downstream and Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance from the NNPC and other key stakeholders to comply with the resolve of the House as it appears there is a deliberate plan by some oil marketers to derail the efforts of government in the distribution of the products.

The green chamber also called on the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to work with the Nigeria Police Force and Department of State Services to ensure that the essential commodity is sold at the regulated price and in all retail outlets.

Last Thursday, amid biting fuel scarcity across Nigeria, the DSS directed oil marketers and the NNPC to resolve the fuel crisis within 48 hours, saying the situation is detrimental to the security of the country.

However, vehicle owners especially in Lagos and Abuja continue to have a tough time getting petrol from filling stations. Whilst many outlets are closed, the few ones that are open sell the indispensable commodity for as high as N250 per litre above the uniform price of N169/litre.

The shortage of supply has led to long, gruelling snake-like queues at the few open filling stations as motorists and business owners jostle to buy fuel while others resort to the black market. The situation has also worsened traffic on major roads as vehicle owners block at least one lane to join queues to filling stations.

Independent Fuel Marketers Threaten Boycotts Over ‘Discriminating Distribution System’

Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers’ Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, threatened to boycott private depots unless they are supplied products at the same regulated price to major marketers.

Citing the prevalence of a discriminating distribution system between IPMAN and major marketers, the independent operators have given a seven-day notice to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, to address their concerns or they boycott the depots, thereby worsening the already tense fuel situation in the country.

IPMAN Ejigbo Satellite Depot Chairman, Akin Akinrinade in a chat with journalists yesterday, also called out the regulatory agency, NMDPRA, for allowing the situation to deteriorate.

He raised some posers saying, “How do you explain the fact that Major Marketers and NNPC Retail outlets sell at N170/ltr and N169/ltr of petrol at their stations, respectively, (and still make profit)? They get their supplies from the same Mother Vessels brought into the Nigerian waters by NNPC Limited. Do they not use Daughter Vessels? Why is it impossible for the Private Depots to sell to IPMAN members at regulated price since they get their supplies from the same source as major marketers? Nobody seems to be interrogating this obvious anomaly.

“The authorities should tell Nigerians how it is possible for the major marketers to sell at a pump price N170/ltr of petrol and the private depot (who are middlemen), sell to IPMAN members at N217/ltr of petrol, ex-depot. It is NNPC that supplies both of them (at same price). From what is playing out, the only ineluctable conclusion is that the private depot owners, in connivance with the authorities in charge of distribution of petrol, are playing games with our collective destinies. The simple fact that the Federal Government is subsidizing petrol makes whoever has custody of it, to do in trust for Nigerians whose funds are being used to subsidize the product.

“They should not be allowed to profiteer. We call on NMDPRA to wake up and do the needful at the depots. We are in this dire position because the NNPC depots across the country are not working. These non-functional depots left IPMAN members orphaned since the beginning of the year 2022. While arrangements were made for major marketers to load at their various depots and at times at the Private Depots, no such arrangement was made for IPMAN members.”

Despite IPMAN members controlling more than 80 percent of the filling stations across Nigeria, Akinrinade stated that any distribution arrangement that excludes IPMAN members is bound to fail.

He noted that the only immediate solution to the current quagmire is to bring IPMAN back into the distribution system, via a through-put arrangement with some private depots to warehouse petrol for loading by IPMAN members at government regulated price.

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