…As NUPENG decries Nigerians’ suffering over fuel scarcity
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
24 December 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja – President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday summoned the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, over the persisting fuel scarcity across the country.
Buhari met the NNPC boss inside his official residence at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Presidency announced the meeting between Buhari and Baru in a tweet on one of its twitter handle, @NGRPresident, on Saturday.
The statement indicated that efforts are ongoing to end the scarcity.
The message read, “Tonight (Saturday), President @MBuhari meeting with GMD @NNPCgroup, @DrMKBaru, regarding the fuel supply situation nationwide.
“The President is very concerned about the situation and all efforts are going into a speedy resolution. Update soon.”
The meeting was held as criticism of the President’s handling of the crises continues to grow from several quarters, even as queues continued to increase at the few filling stations selling the product across the country.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has decried the current suffering and pains of Nigerians as a result of the persistent and what it described as unjustified fuel scarcity.
It called on the government to quickly address the situation instead of trading blames when the depots are dry.
The union condemned the incessant fuel scarcity, which it noted has resulted in long queues, loss of man-hours and endless search for the products.
NUPENG president, Comrade Igwe Achese, stated that the scarcity has further worsened the sufferings of the citizens through increase in transport fares, rising pricing of goods and services as the Christmas and New Year festivities approach.
”It was a national shame and embarrassment for the citizens to celebrate the Christmas under this kind of atmosphere when Nigeria is the seventh largest producer of crude oil,” he said.
The NUPENG president reiterated the need for the federal government; Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC to tell the nation what is actually happening, as the two labour unions in the sector are not on strike.
He added, “We therefore called on the Federal government to implore the appropriate bodies to flood the nation with petroleum products as we enter the year 2018 as stop gap measure.
“In the long run, the nation’s four refineries must be revamped to reduce the pressure on foreign exchange for importation of petroleum products from abroad.”
