The comments by Kachikwu concerning the lack of assurance of an end to the biting crisis of fuel scarcity in Nigeria has taken its negative toll in the purchase of petrol.
Ibe Kachikwu
The current fuel scarcity in the country took a turn for the worse on Thursday as motorists and other petrol consumers flocked filling stations in major towns nationwide in what industry stakeholders described as panic buying fuelled by the statement made by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr.Ibe Kachikwu, the previous day, according to the Punch.
Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, had on Wednesday said despite the efforts being made by the Federal Government, fuel queues would not completely disappear until May.
The statement was said to have also raised the prospect of hoarding of petrol by some marketers who would want to profiteer from the current situation.
On the Otedola Estate and Berger ends of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Mobil, Capital Oil and Oando filling stations had long queues of desperate motorists and other customers, which spilled onto the road and caused gridlock, while there was no activity at the Conoil and the other Oando station on the axis as of the time one of our correspondents checked.
The minister’s statement also worsened the already bad fuel supply situation in Abuja, Kaduna and Nasarawa states, as hundreds of motorists armed themselves with jerry-cans and besieged the few stations dispensing petrol on Thursday.
Most of them were of the view that since the scarcity would persist for the next two months, it would be wise to fill up their vehicle tanks and stockpile petrol in jerry-cans pending when the situation would improve.
A former President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Peter Esele, said, “I think that statement is very unfortunate. If you look at it on the surface, probably the minister just wanted to tell Nigerians the way it is. But again, that is what is on the ground. There is no need for us to colour the challenges that we are facing.”
Esele, however, noted that the comment had created a lot of panic buying in the system, saying, “That is where I actually have an issue with the minister’s statement. He wanted to be upfront. But being upfront means that you can also now unsettle and unbalance the system.
“Right now, what we have is that the system is unsettled based on the minister’s comment. What I would have expected is that he informs his principal, who is the President and Minister of Petroleum, then the principal will now know how to deal with it and communicate to Nigerians effectively.
“Now, we are going to have those (marketers) who even have products who want to hoard and sell at very expensive prices.”
The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Lagos Zone, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, said,“The statement was a little bit blunt. Instead of deceiving Nigerians, he (Kachikwu) made it known to them that there is no magic he can do. It may not be up to that two months because it is not that he is not doing anything; they are doing something tangible.
“The panic buying, which the statement has created, is not good for the system, and it is even portraying this government in bad light. But at the same time, it is a plus to us as Nigerians so that we will prepare very well and be efficient in using fuel.
“The pronouncement is going to create a lot of maximisation of profit by the marketers. Some of them will be hoarding. Can the Department of Petroleum Resources go for any enforcement with this pronouncement? It is not possible because the marketers, if they cannot get it at the controlled price, they will comfortably be selling above the pump price. So, it is a very bad signal.”
However, the Deputy Manager, Public Affairs, DPR, Mr. George Ene-Ita, said the agency would clamp down on any marketer found to be hoarding products.
Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, had on Wednesday said despite the efforts being made by the Federal Government, fuel queues would not completely disappear until May.
The statement was said to have also raised the prospect of hoarding of petrol by some marketers who would want to profiteer from the current situation.
On the Otedola Estate and Berger ends of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Mobil, Capital Oil and Oando filling stations had long queues of desperate motorists and other customers, which spilled onto the road and caused gridlock, while there was no activity at the Conoil and the other Oando station on the axis as of the time one of our correspondents checked.
The minister’s statement also worsened the already bad fuel supply situation in Abuja, Kaduna and Nasarawa states, as hundreds of motorists armed themselves with jerry-cans and besieged the few stations dispensing petrol on Thursday.
Most of them were of the view that since the scarcity would persist for the next two months, it would be wise to fill up their vehicle tanks and stockpile petrol in jerry-cans pending when the situation would improve.
A former President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Peter Esele, said, “I think that statement is very unfortunate. If you look at it on the surface, probably the minister just wanted to tell Nigerians the way it is. But again, that is what is on the ground. There is no need for us to colour the challenges that we are facing.”
Esele, however, noted that the comment had created a lot of panic buying in the system, saying, “That is where I actually have an issue with the minister’s statement. He wanted to be upfront. But being upfront means that you can also now unsettle and unbalance the system.
“Right now, what we have is that the system is unsettled based on the minister’s comment. What I would have expected is that he informs his principal, who is the President and Minister of Petroleum, then the principal will now know how to deal with it and communicate to Nigerians effectively.
“Now, we are going to have those (marketers) who even have products who want to hoard and sell at very expensive prices.”
The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Lagos Zone, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, said,“The statement was a little bit blunt. Instead of deceiving Nigerians, he (Kachikwu) made it known to them that there is no magic he can do. It may not be up to that two months because it is not that he is not doing anything; they are doing something tangible.
“The panic buying, which the statement has created, is not good for the system, and it is even portraying this government in bad light. But at the same time, it is a plus to us as Nigerians so that we will prepare very well and be efficient in using fuel.
“The pronouncement is going to create a lot of maximisation of profit by the marketers. Some of them will be hoarding. Can the Department of Petroleum Resources go for any enforcement with this pronouncement? It is not possible because the marketers, if they cannot get it at the controlled price, they will comfortably be selling above the pump price. So, it is a very bad signal.”
However, the Deputy Manager, Public Affairs, DPR, Mr. George Ene-Ita, said the agency would clamp down on any marketer found to be hoarding products.
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