The House of Representatives on Wednesday asked security agencies to go after oil marketers sabotaging the sector by hoarding fuel, a development which has subjected Nigerians to untold hardship in the last few days.
Penpushing reports that the chairpersons of the committees, on Petroleum Downstream and Midstream Hon Ikenga Ugochinyere, representing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Imo State and Hon Odianosen Okojie of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Edo state made the call during a joint briefing in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The chairman of the downstream committee, Ugochiyere emphasized that the committees had been briefed by marketers and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (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.
Penpushing further reports that Ugochiyere pointed out 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’, he stated.
“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’, Ugochinyere added.
Penpushing also reports that the lawmaker disclosed that the committee will convene to a round of talks with players in the sector to prevent future occurrences, just as it is recalled that the official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday assured that the scarcity would end this week
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on its part threatened to shut down its outlets across the country over non-payment of bridging claims of over N200 billion owed to its members.
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