The House of Representatives has ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited to urgently end the lingering scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, in the country within seven days.
The lower chamber of the National Assembly, on Tuesday, equally directed the management of the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NMDPRC) to collaborate with the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and Department of State Services (DSS) to ensure that fuel is sold at the N197 per litre regulated price across the country.
The development followed the adoption of a motion on ‘Urgent need for the Government to end the current fuel scarcity’, sponsored by Hon. Saidu Abdullahi.
Abdullahi said Nigerians, in the last few months, have been subjected to untold hardships caused by the lingering petrol scarcity.
The lawmaker stated that the scarcity of the product also affected economic activities in the country.
He said: “The House is concerned that 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.
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“The House is further concerned that while the fuel scarcity is heating petroleum stations of some major marketers that are currently selling fuel at government-regulated prices, some independent marketers who operate in the Market have enough petroleum products selling at unregulated prices.
“The House is worried that 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.
“The House is further worried that 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.
“The House is disturbed that lingering fuel scarcity has compounded the woes of millions of Nigerians struggling to survive as prices of items continue to make a rapid surge.
“It has added a high cost of living to Nigerians which surged to a 17-year high of 21.09 per cent in October this year.
“The House is further disturbed that 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,” Abdullahi stated.
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