End fuel scarcity now _Niger delta leaders to FG

Leaders and important Niger Delta stakeholders have urged the federal government to assist regional refineries in order to alleviate the nation’s ongoing fuel shortage and excessive petroleum product prices.

Speaking in Abuja, the stakeholders stated that it is shameful for a country with a plenty of petroleum to be deficient in the same resources.

They said that once domestic refineries were operating, Nigeria would no longer be dependent on imported refined goods.

During a solidarity visit to the elder statesman over the weekend, the leaders addressed through High Chief Benjamin Tamaranebi, President of Host Community of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSTCOM), at the Asokoro residence of Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark.

Chief Tamaranebi bemoaned the fact that most of the Niger Delta, where crude oil is explored, extracted, and shipped abroad, now sells a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) for N2,000.00 due to a lack of fuel supply.

He recommended that in order to lessen reliance on imports and stabilize prices, the government should repair the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna and support already-existing local refineries like the Dangote Refinery.

In addition, he berated International Oil Companies (IOCs) for violating the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by declining to provide local refineries with crude oil.

He charged that the IOCs were undermining government efforts to increase the capacity for local refining by pursuing their own interests.

The leaders of the Niger Delta urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to step in and alleviate the suffering of Nigerians, stressing that the general populace has not benefited from the government’s palliative measures.

He finished by urging for prompt action to boost local refineries, cut prices, and alleviate the hardship endured by Nigerians.

Tamaranebi said:  “Our visit to the residence of our leader and father in the Niger Delta region today, is to voice out our displeasure to the Federal Government and in particular, publicly owned key players in the oil sector on the endless fuel scarcity in the country.

“It is a sad commentary to state here that a country like Nigeria, an oil producing nation, the 2nd largest oil producer in Africa, that has four refineries is still suffering from endless fuel scarcity and bent on importation of refined petroleum products to her country for over 20 years. “Only recently, some Nigerians trooped to the street in all parts of the country to protest against hardship in the country. Some of them were calling for the re- introduction of oil subsidy.

We know that the current fuel shortage in some areas of the nation is a result of marketers refusing to bring gasoline into the nation because of the severe debt problem. What an irony that same NNPCL is coming to celebrate gain while using the same token to request to utilize the profit for subsidy that NNPCL is allegedly owing marketers enormous sums of money, and as a result, they can no longer continue to import.

Through you, Clark, we are pleading with the Federal Government, which is excellently led by our esteemed President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, to reconsider.