President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to seal off fuel stations found to be hoarding petroleum products and dispense the petroleum free to the public.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, made the disclosure after observing the Jumat service at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“I’m happy to report that we have tamed the monster that reared it’s head as a result of the rumored price increase about three weeks ago, he said.
Baru who said the monster of the rumoured fuel increase which led to fuel scarcity has been tamed and petroleum products are now available for distribution.
“Fortunately that rumour instigated a lot of marketers to be very greedy and they decided that their fellow citizens should not enjoy the Christmas holiday and new year with ease and decided to profiteer starting by hoarding and diversion of products.
“At the beginning, I did address the press, telling the world that we have sufficient products that will last us 30 days through the new year into January but because the marketers wanted to inflict harm and pains on fellow citizens, they decided to hoard products, divert them and in some cases even smuggle products out of the country.
“This has been tamed by the actions we took and I personally led the war around Abuja and other teams led the war in Lagos and other parts of the country.
“As of this morning(Friday), I have gone round the Abuja metropolis and I have seen that the queues have reduced significantly to almost normal level and few motorists that I heard speaking on morning programmes concerning what I have seen, said they have not spent up to 30 minutes to fuel their car.
“So the monster has been tamed in Lagos, the situation has been brought into normalcy as far as two days ago and we are also aching the same thing in all other cities.
“I promise that we have sufficient products that will last us for the next 30 days and we will keep bringing in 50% over and above our normal consumption into the country. And vessels have been lined up, at the moment I have eight vessels discharging products at various ports around the country. So Nigerians should enjoy the new year and that Mr. President’s directive and guidance which has been very helpful has been executed and normalcy has returned.
The NNPC boss said the corporation is selling at N143 per liter to independent marketers hence they are expected to sell at N145 per liter maximum, adding that anyone that goes above that, the regulators, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and relevant security agencies have been mandated to confiscate and distribute free to the public.
“Those marketers that have hidden products in odd locations, you better bring them out and sell to the public at N145 per liter maximum. If NNPC sold it to you at N133.28, you have sufficient margin within that ambit to be able to supply and sell to the public at maximum N145 per liter.
“The NNPC mega stations are selling at N143 per liter so you should be able to sell at N145 per liter. If you go above that, the regulator, DPR and PPPRA with the support of law enforcement agencies particularly the civil defence, will make sure that the products are confiscated and given free to the public. This is the directive that we are working on by Mr. President and is being executed to the later.
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