Lack of sufficient reserve, low clearance speed of petrol at the ports, diversion of products are some of the reasons for the ongoing fuel crisis being experienced in the country, says Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu.

Mr. Kachikwu said this while speaking before a meeting of the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives. The meeting was convened to find a lasting solution to the fuel crisis.

“The causes were; first, diversion was very key, second, there were logistics issues,” he said. “Once those diversions began Apapa Wharf was a problem to be able to move things due to bad roads, lack of sufficient reserve in our system making us unable to respond to the supply gap arising largely from the fact that private sector pulled out from supply.

“There has been a loose enforcement on diversion in the country. We have not been able to police our depots adequately.”

He explained that disparity in the landing cost has prevented the private marketers from importing petroleum into the country.

“Going forward we need to address the issue of pricing, there is a disparity between landing cost and cost we are selling. If we are going to sell at N145, we need to put some mechanisms in place so that the private sector will go back importation. We have a committee looking at this and we are still going to submit a report for review.

“Currently, the landing cost of product is N170 to N171 and we sell at N145 and the price we are allowed to sell is N145.”
He said the executive is currently working on modalities to permanently resolve the petrol crisis and prevent it from rearing its head any other time.
“We need to make marketers responsible for every tank of fuel up until point the point of delivery.

“One mechanism will be to look at working with CBN to have an exchange rate mechanism that enables them to stay at N245 price. If we do that, then they (marketers) can import without price differentials.

“In moments of normalcy, we are fine. In moments of emergency, our system is slow to respond. We also need to address our refineries.”

The fuel scarcity across Nigeria has been on for about one month and worsened during the Yuletide season. While the scarcity has reduced in major cities like Abuja and Lagos, due to the efforts of the NNPC and petroleum ministry, it is still on in many other states like Kano and Akwa Ibom. In such states, many filling stations that have the product still sell at over N200 per litre, contrary to the N145 per litre official price.

Saaruman:
Impunity is now the rule of the game in Vegetable govt. When Stella Oduah budgeted N100 million for BMW cars above her budget limit which was not appropriated for, she was skinned alive by zoo media for good 4 weeks until she was sacked. But here is a govt paying for subsidy through NNPC in billions. Funds not appropriated for in both 2017/2018 budget but zoo media are nowhere to be found.

It is clear that some people in this wilderness call Nigeria are above the law.

Ratello:
To even think we have a sitting President who happens to be the pioneer minister of petroleum and has headed big parastatal linked to the downstream sector like PTDF and unfortunately he is the current minister of petroleum yet all these anomalies as revealed by Kachikwu are happening under his watch is a sign that indeed we have a grade A dullard in charge of Nigeria and our oil sector. What a shame.

onojiwizardgmailcom:


My Brother, I have been saying this since last year, the double standard in Nigeria is a big problem. This Government has been paying subsidy without proper budgeting, using the NNPC as proxy for impunity and calling it operational cost of NNPC. the Nigerian newspapers turn the blind eye, suddenly the acclaimed investigative journalist in sahara reporters, The Nation etc. has lost their mojo. God help us.

fitzmayowa:




Where art thy chill...

omenkaLives:
Well, whatever it is, the buck stops at the government's table, even though we know there are lots of criminals and saboteurs along the supply chain. It is the responsibility of the government to check their activities and ensure things move seamlessly.

onojiwizardgmailcom:


My Brother, I have been saying this since last year, the double standard in Nigeria is a big problem. This Government has been paying subsidy without proper budgeting, using the NNPC as proxy for impunity and calling it operational cost of NNPC. the Nigerian newspapers turn the blind eye, suddenly the acclaimed investigative journalist in sahara reporters, The Nation etc. has lost their mojo. God help us.