The National President of Independent Petroleum MarketersAssociationofNigeria(IPMAN), Elder Chinedu Okonkwo, has discountenanced a letter issued by the Borno chapter directing petrol filling stations to shut down.
The reversal comes as the Federal Government threatened to deal with any individual or groups who cause untold hardship to Nigerians by disrupting fuel supply and distribution chain.
The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, warned on Tuesday through a statement by his Senior Adviser, Media and Communications, Horatius Egua and called on security agencies to be on high alert in preventing attempts by subversive elements to cause any disruption during the period of the general elections in the country.
Media reports quoted IPMAN’s Okonkwo as saying that Kuluwu (Borno Chapter Chairman) should not have issued the statement credited to him.
“He should not have issued the statement. In fact, he has retracted it,” Okonkwo said.
The directive to shut down stations in Borno and Oyo States appears to have been reversed after an initial panic swept through other states.
A copy of the Borno letter was seen on social media, and set many Nigerians, trying to wriggle out of the fuel scarcity in many States on edge.
Though petrol (premium motor spirit) is available in the Federal Capital City of Abuja, there are complaints elsewhere in the country that it is scarce, and where available, sells for between N250 and N450 per litre.
In a retraction Borno IPMAN Chairman, Mohammed Kuluwu stated: “Having met with the concerned authority, all filling stations should open with immediate effect.
“Continue selling while the association continues with further consultation and accordingly keep you informed”.
Sylva said the government was exploring all options in seeking an end to the fuel problem in the country.
Slyva urged stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to join hands with government in ending the problem.
“The problems associated with fuel queues in the country is not a problem that came with Buhari’s government but a fallout of long years of rot and decadence in products supply and distribution chain by successive governments.
“Buhari’s administration is addressing the problem holistically, this is the first time in so many years that a government is addressing the problems associated with fuel supply and distribution collectively,’’ he said.
And as part of the move to find lasting solution to the problem, the minister said the Federal Government recently set up a 14-Man committee to get to the bottom of the problem with a view to avoiding future occurrences.
He said the Federal Government had also embarked on refineries rehabilitations neglected over the years with Port Harcourt Refinery at about 65 per cent completion, Kaduna just awarded to Daewo of South Korea and Warri expected to follow soon.
He said the government through the NNPCL acquired a 20 per cent equity stake in the Dangote Refinery had embarked on the licensing of modular refineries.
According to him, it concluded the marginal fields bid and improvement of security along crude pipelines in the Niger Delta region in the last few months, all geared toward increasing crude oil production to meet domestic consumption.
