Determined to have a first hand understanding of the cause of the prolonged fuel scarcity across the country, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, paid a surprise visit to several filling stations in Lagos Sunday and concluded that the marketers were behind the scarcity of the product. Speaking during the inspection of some filling stations in Lagos State, the minister said the country had enough PMS to meet the domestic demand. “We have enough fuel to wet the country, but the challenge we are having is that, after loading, some truck drivers will not supply the lifted products at the designated filling stations. Having gone round the state (Lagos), it is not just the filling stations at Ikoyi that appeared to be wet with product, but other extreme locations like Ajah and other parts in Surulere,” she said. This came on a day that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) are engaged in rounds of accusation and counter accusation over the commencement of new projects by the IOCs. Speaking on the scarcity of petrol, Alison-Madueke said there were many factors militating against efficient delivery of the products to the end users. “We learnt that some of the marketers instructed their drivers to change the number plates of their trucks to make it difficult for tracking. Does it mean those markets they are diverting the product to are more lucrative than intended market? But why on Sunday?anyway
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 08:25:37 +0000