Fuel Scarcity to End in Matter of Days, Says FG

* Insists product now available across states, FCT  

*Saraki faults 70m litre daily consumption claim  

*Dismiss zoning arrangement for 2023 presidential poll  

*Says he has what it takes to lead Nigeria
Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha and Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

A plan endorsed by President Muhammadu Buhari to conclusively end the current fuel scarcity around the country in a matter of days is in progress.
A top presidency official who disclosed this yesterday, said in a matter of days, every state in the country would have returned to a very low queue situation at filling stations or a completely restored situation with no long queues anymore.

According to the source, the plan which was presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last week, had been signed off previously by President Muhammadu Buhari before he left the country last week Sunday, with clear goals that included a conclusive determination on the initial cause of the scarcity with attendant consequences imposed.

The source explained that the plan which was drawn up by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s (NNPC) executives had gotten the endorsement of the president and the praise of the vice president, especially because of the 24-hour round the clock operations, including 24-hour sales in major supply centers in the country and the 24-hour continuous loading at all depots coordinated personally by the Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari himself with the active participation of the Director-General of the DSS, Alhaji Yusuf Bichi.

The source said, “the plan is designed to do everything necessary to end the scarcity quickly and hold those responsible for it in the first instance responsible so as to avoid a repeat. Indeed, under the Buhari administration what used to be an incessant and recurring decimal of fuel scarcity had been reduced to it barest minimum until the recent case of adulterated PMS, an incident that incurred the president’s wrath.”

The 24-operations also has an enforcement element with monitoring teams, “to prevent any act of sabotage and ensure smooth operations.”
“That 24-hour operation also included the direct participation and support of members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and private depot owners.

“By the end of last week, the country had over one billion litres total PMS stock, equivalent to about a month sufficiency based on the 60 million litres per day evacuation of the PMS.
“Lagos and Warri/Oghara loading zones hold the highest land stock of PMS with over 200 million litres and over 100 million litres respectively. The balance of the stock is held as Marine Stock.”

The source added, “the endorsed plan also maintains the high evacuation rate: which is the total amount of stock supplied until such a time that the distribution situation is normalised. By the middle of last week, a National Filling Stations Queue Map presented to the Presidency and at FEC indicated that fuel supply had returned to normal in four states of Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and the FCT.

“In another six states there were very small queues with mostly about ten cars at a time. Those states are Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi. It also indicated that in 13 States there were Medium Queues of maximum 50 cars.
“Those states are Delta, Rivers, Anambra, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Kano, Ogun, Ondo, Sokoto and Zamfara. In the rest of the 14 States, there were still High Queues of above 50 cars at a time in the Filling Stations as at middle of last week.”

Meanwhile, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, yesterday asked the president to urgently probe the current subsidy regime in the country.
He insisted that the claim by the NNPC that Nigerians consume 70 million litre of fuel per day was nothing but a scam.

Saraki who spoke on Channels Television, insisted that it was not possible for the country to be paying N6 trillion on subsidy annually.

According to Saraki, “It is impossible for Nigerians to consume 70 million litre of premium motor spirit (PMS) per day. We are in danger now of spending up to N6 trillion annually on subsidy just because a few people are benefitting from it.

“This is a matter that requires government urgent attention. Government must take responsibility and hold people accountable. We must change the way subsidy is being managed. We must ensure that the right people, the vulnerable are the beneficiaries. We should not be subsidising for our neighbouring countries.

“Drive through our petrol stations, you can’t see evidence of 70 million litre daily consumption.
” Even in 2020 when there was lockdown, we are still claiming that we were consuming 50 million litre daily, how is that possible? We are not being fair to the masses. We must immediately stop smuggling of this product “
Saraki said the government must conduct a research to ascertain the real consumption rate.

According to him, “Egypt was in the same position with Nigeria in 2016, but they’ve used technology and identification system to be able to solve their own problem. If we do thorough research, we would discover that half of the fuel we are subsidising in Nigeria is just a waste. We must stop all these things.
“I did a personal research as a Senator and discovered that vessels laden with fuel that were supposed to be in Nigeria, were in other parts of the world.

“The crude oil price is going up now, but unfortunately, we are not going to benefit from it because the subsidy bills will go up as well.”
However, Saraki commended the National Assembly for rejecting the planned amendments being sought by Buhari to the new Electoral Act 2022.

Addressing the highly-debated issue of zoning, the former Kwara Governor said although it was a great idea, arguing that presently, what is more important should be to find the best person for the job.

“When you talk about zoning, yes, you must consider zoning, but when we talk about zoning it can’t just be an issue of north/south because you cannot tell me that the southwest will say they are disenfranchised in the possibility of political office; neither can you say the south-south.

“But the reality is that south-east, north-east and north-central have not had presidency or vice president. But what I’m saying is, today, where the country is, with the challenges before the country, we must bring in other issues.

“We did it when we wanted to look for the National Chairman of our party, we went seeking for who we felt was the best that would help the party.
“There are people who can provide solutions to the problems of the country if you give them the opportunity,” he added.

The former Senate President however said he was capable of leading Nigeria.
He said, “I believe I have what it takes to lead Nigeria.
“I am not someone who shies away from taking up challenges; I am not someone who does not know the issues or someone who does not have the energy and vibrancy to address those issues.

“More importantly, I am someone that can reach out across the political divide, based on my antecedents. I am someone who can reach out across the ethnicity divide and across the religious divide,” he added.