The Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) on Friday invited the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Andrew Yakubu, to a meeting on Tuesday to explain the reasons for fuel scarcity experienced in several cities across Nigeria.
The committee also invited the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Reginald Stanley along with other stakeholders in the petroleum downstream sector.
The Chairman of the committee, Magnus Abe, who personally signed the invitation letter, said the long queues of vehicles at filling stations noticed this week in Abuja and some cities in the country especially in Lagos “is unacceptable”.
He said “We thought that the era of Nigerians queuing at filling stations for indeterminate hours to procure PMS and other petroleum products, was indeed gone forever. It is, indeed, an embarrassment that precious man-hours are wasted in the quest to fulfil a basic need.
“What was initially perceived as a glitch in the distribution chain has now ballooned into queues in what now seems to be a gradual return to that inglorious era.
“The Senate Petroleum Resources Committee intends to engage those in charge with a view to ascertain and chart workable solutions to the challenges in the downstream sector.
“To this end, we will meet with the Petroleum Resources Minister, the NNPC GMD, PPPRA and other relevant stakeholders next week.”
