Fuel Scarcity: Senate Summons Diezani, NNPC Boss, Others

THE Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) has summoned the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Andrew Yakubu, in its quest to get to the root of the lingering fuel scarcity in the country.According to a statement issued by the chairman of the committee, Senator Magnus Abe, the worrisome development in the oil sector was unacceptable and the Upper Chamber would not fold its hands to watch Nigerians in pains.'We thought that the era of Nigerians queuing at filling stations for indeterminate hours to procure Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and other petroleum products, was indeed gone forever.'It is, indeed, an embarrassment that precious man-hours are wasted in the quest to fulfill a basic need.'What was initially perceived as a glitch in the distribution chain has now ballooned into queues in what now seems to be a gradual return to that inglorious era.'The Senate Petroleum Resources Committee intends to engage those in charge with a view to ascertaining and charting workable solutions to the challenges in the downstream sector.'To this end, we will meet with the Petroleum Resources Minister, the NNPC GMD, PPPRA and other relevant stakeholders next week,' the statement read in part.It would be recalled that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and some states in the country have been experiencing perennial fuel scarcity since last month, followingattempts by some stakeholders to protest the debts owed some importers of fuel by the federal government.
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