The minister pleads with Nigerians to exercise more patience on the matter of fuel scarcity on ground that his ministry and the NNPC are working hard to proffer long-term solutions to the fuel supply problem
He urges the private sector to play a more crucial role in the oil sector to unburden with the entire work of the NNPC
The minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has blamed unscrupulous dealers for the ongoing fuel scarcity experienced across the nation.
Dr. Ibe Kachikwu
Speaking at a town hall meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism on Monday, April 25, the minister of petroleum resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said some dealers were diverting trucks conveying petroleum products to Cameroon and Chad, resulting in the biting scarcity.
He's speech at the meeting: “I have had countless sleepless nights. I work round the clock to solve this problem because whatever touches you touches me. Over 30 per cent of fuel is diverted to Chad and Cameroon. But I continue to oversupply and you see some people making money out of the agony of Nigerians.
“What we met on the ground when we came was complete lack of transparency but we have worked to put everything in order. The loss of N300 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been reduced to N3billion, subsidy payment been reduced to near zero. We are focusing on business, not bleeding the government.”
As a way of solving the problem of truck diversion, the minister said the federal government was planning to make sure that only truckers who can install trackers on their trucks are allowed to convey petroleum products.
Kachikwu also pleaded with Nigerians to exercise more patience, adding that his ministry and the NNPC were working hard to proffer long-term solutions to the fuel supply problem.
“Do not judge our work on the basis of the difficulties you have had in fuel supply. I love your patience, I appreciate it; we are working feverishly at solutions. We are looking at intelligent solutions,” he said.
Kachikwu stressed out the need for the private sector to play a more crucial role in the oil sector, noting that NNPC was currently burdened with the entire work of supply and regulation.
In another development, data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), show Nigeria’s oil revenue dropped from N1.114 trillion to N1.86 trillion in the 2015 fiscal year.
The N1.114 trillion decline represents 18.35 per cent of Nigeria’s 2016 budget estimate of N6.07 trillion, and is attributable to the low price of oil in the international market, which saw the price of commodity dropping to as low as $30 per barrel.
According to the CBN Statistical Bulletins for the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 20115, at N1.859 trillion, the country’s crude oil revenue for the 2015 fiscal year dipped by 37.47 per cent from N2.973 trillion recorded in 2014.
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