End fuel scarcity in seven days — Reps order NNPC, others

The House of Representatives has ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and other regulatory agencies to end the lingering fuel scarcity in one week to ease the s¥ffering of Nigerians.

The legislators passed the resolution during a plenary session on Tuesday, December 13, following the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance, sponsored by Saidu Abdullahi from Niger state.

Presenting the motion, he said in the last few months, Nigerians had been subjected to untold hardships caused by the lingering petrol scarcity, affecting economic activities and making the already trying times in the country more difficult.

According to him, “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,

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 House therefore called on the NNPC Ltd to end the artificial scarcity within the next one week and also called on the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to collaborate with the Nigerian Police Force and DSS to ensure that fuel is sold at the regulated price and in all retail outlets.