The Federal Government has been accused of being careless in finding a solution to the ongoing fuel crisis Nigeria is experiencing.
The leadership of both the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) in a statement signed by presidents of both unions Ayuba Wabba and Festus Osifo respectively expressed worry that the situation was causing hardship for Nigerians.
The unions said the situation was unacceptable, adding that persistent shortages, steady price hikes of petrol has become a source of pain to the Nigerian people.
But the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) allayed fears on Thursday, saying it has two billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in stock, adding that recent queues in Lagos were largely due to ongoing road infrastructure projects around Apapa and access road challenges in Lagos.
The NNPC Limited said the stock of over two billion litres was equivalent to over 30 days sufficiency and further clarified that it has programmed vessels and trucks to unconstrained depots while massive loadouts from depots to states are closely monitored to ease fuel queues.
It explained that Abuja was impacted by the challenges recorded in Lagos, adding that NNPC retail and key marketers had intensified dedicated loading into Abuja to restore normalcy.
But the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) President, Chinedu Okoronkwo, who agreed that the NNPC has enough fuel stock, said almost all the depots owned by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd were not working, which he said was responsible for the persistent fuel scarcity in the country.
He said private depot owners were the one distributing the products, but added that the distribution method was complicating the situation.
He said when this product is pumped into these depots, the owners claim to have ownership. Remember we control over 80 per cent of the market and the situation where my members cannot easily access this product, they now made to buy from these private depot owners, a third party. Remember what we get from NNPC is N148.19 but these private depots owners by they time they begin to put their own charges, sharing vassals, NIMASA, NPA, we get it at N185 to N200.
“Those who have the muscles and everything to buy, they will buy. The product is there because of what I have just said. NNPC has enough stock, but because of this distribution something that is why we need to do something.”
According to the NLC and TUC, the situation has led to long avoidable queues, adulteration of the product by the unscrupulous elements; exploitation of the consumers, turning fuel stations to traffic menace.
“ These have tragic consequences for the Nigerian people and debilitating effects on the health of the economy which itself is not in a good state.
“We are reliably informed that the shortage is deliberately fostered by players in the downstream sector in order to hike the price far above the government approved threshold. It is an added problem when non-state actors begin to arrogate to themselves the power to determine the price of a liter of fuel far above the rate pegged by the government in the current subsidy regime.”
The statement noted that Nigerians are being made to bear the brunt of subsidy, adding that they cannot be further exploited and made to pay over N240 per liter when the current ex-depot price is currently fixed at N 148.19k per liter.
“The labour centers therefore demand of the Federal Government an end to the avoidable, unnecessary, crippling and pain-inducing fuel shortages and unapproved price hike of up to N240 in the country. No excuse is good enough to cripple the country. If there are challenges, they should be fixed; we have a government in power to fix challenges, not to make excuses,” the statement said.
