Reps committees ask security agencies to go after marketers hoarding fuel

The House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum Downstream and Midstream have asked security agencies to go after oil marketers sabotaging the sector.

The chairpersons of the committees, Ikenga Ugochinyere (PDP, Imo) and Odianosen Okojie (APC, Edo), made the call on Wednesday during a joint briefing in Abuja.

Mr Ugochiyere, who is the chairman of the downstream committee, said the committees had been briefed by marketers and NNPC Limited, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) on the lingering petroleum scarcity.

He noted that the scarcity is just a temporary glitch caused by logistic challenges and further exacerbated by the actions of some unscrupulous marketers who are hoarding petroleum products.

“At this juncture, we strongly frown at the activities of middlemen who have taken advantage of the short disruption of supply to maximise profit and generate an excessive gain for themselves, at the detriment of our people.

“We hereby call on security forces to support the NNPCL, NMDPRA, PETROAN, NARTO and other key stakeholders in the distribution value chain, to ensure that such acts of economic sabotage that have to do with hoarding, arbitrary increment in price, product diversion and smuggling are detected and dealt with,” Mr Ugochinyere said.

The lawmaker said the committee will convene to a round of talks with players in the sector to prevent future occurrences.

Fuel scarcity

PREMIUM TIMES reported how fuel scarcity hit major cities across Nigeria in recent weeks, with attendant effects on businesses and households.

An NNPC Limited official said on Tuesday that the scarcity would end this week.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has, however, threatened to shut down its outlets across the country over non-payment of bridging claims of over N200 billion owed to its members.

The House on Tuesday summoned the Minister of Petroleum Resources to brief it on the cause of the scarcity and how to mitigate it.

While regulators and lawmakers assure Nigerians of the availability of petroleum products, many workers are spending the Worker’s Day holiday in queues at different petrol stations across the country.