THE Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, on Tuesday in Abuja, asked the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to disclose the source of funding of kerosene subsidy.
Tambuwal, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, made the demand at an investigative hearing on the supply, subsidy and distribution of kerosene in the country.
The hearing was organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream).
He said that since there was no budgetary provision for subsidy on kerosene, Nigerians would want to know the source of funding of the subsidy.
The Speaker noted that in spite of the N1 trillion spent in the past four years to subsidise kerosene, the product had continued to elude Nigerians.
“It is important to note that the country has spent at least N1 trillion over the past four years to subsidise kerosene, yet the product is neither available nor is it sold at the official NNPC pump price.
“When kerosene is available at all, it is sold at such exorbitant rates that Nigerians have to pay huge sums to get the product.”
Mr. Tambuwal said that neither the NNPC nor its agencies had been able to disclose the consumption volume of kerosene per annum.
“Transparency and accountability are things that we should, by now, take for granted in 21st Century democratic Nigeria.
“This mystery surrounding kerosene subsidy warrants a full scale investigation to unravel the truth.
“Nigerians need to know to what extent kerosene subsidy is actually serving their interest,” he said.
He maintained that the aim of the hearing was to boost the confidence of Nigerians in the economy.
“This investigation is expected to boost the confidence of the people on how the economy is being managed while protecting the nation from unavoidable losses,” he said.
The speaker said that the hearing was not to witchhunt but to discharge the constitutional duty bestowed on the House.
“Let me reiterate that this is a constitutional duty and not a witch hunting exercise.”
Fuel queues returns
Long queue resurfaced in some parts of the country on Tuesday signalling imminent scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol.
There had been speculation that the major marketers did not have enough products at various depots, but the present sole importer of petrol, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had pledged that it would ensure the market is flooded with petrol to prevent scarcity.
Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that most filling stations in Lagos and its environs have stocks, but there were long queues in some of them.
A visit to Mobil filling stations at Acme Road and Alausa area of Ikeja revealed that there were stocks but the queues stretched beyond their entrances and spilled to the main road.
The Total filling station opposite old Eleganza Building at Oregun, Alausa was out of stock as at press time and the fuel consumers patronising the filling station had to look elsewhere for fuel.
Forte Oil situated opposite the above named Total filling station was equally not attending to fuel customers around 5.00 p.m on Tuesday.
However, most filling stations situated along Ikorodu Road, Gbagada and Oworonshoki-Toll Gate expressway were dispensing fuel and the queues were normal as fuel consumers bought fuel with ease.
From the indications above, it was clear that partial scarcity had hit Lagos metropolis as of Tuesday.
Although the major cause of the partial scarcity is still shrouded in secrecy, the acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs (NNPC), Mr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim told Nigerian Tribune on telephone that the corporation was aware of the resurfaced scarcity in some parts of Lagos.
According to him, “we are aware of the situation, but I have been trying to find out the cause of the situation from the PPMC. As soon as I can ascertain the cause, I will get back to you.”
However, he was unable to get back as of press time.
However, a source within the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) who pleaded anonymity confirmed to Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday that there were no products in all the depots belonging to both MOMAN and IPMAN.
According to him, “there was no fuel in all the depots. Those that have a little in their reserves have begun to hoard and ration its sales to customers.”
When asked what could have been a major cause of the situation, he stated that non-release of first quater allocation was responsible.
“Marketers cannot import until it is approved by the Federal Government through Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA),” he concluded.
While it may be recalled that the spokesman of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Femi Olawore, issued a warning over imminent fuel scarcity except the first quarter allocation is released for marketers to import fuel, it would also be recalled that it was exclusively reported by the Nigerian Tribune that the NNPC, through PPMC may be the sole importer of petrol in the country.
A member of MOMAN, in his reaction to the above story had also stated that PPMC does not have the capacity to become sole importer and “any attempt for it to be sole importer will result in random fuel scarcity.”
According to PPPRA pricing template, Nigerians consumed about 30 million litres of petrol daily.
Long queues in Akure
Also, long queues had returned to filling stations in Akure, the Ondo State capital as fuel scarcity persists in the town on Tuesday.
Apart from the state capital, other major towns in the state also witnessed scarcity of petroleum as a litre was being sold for between N110 and N130.
While some of the major marketers that have the product sold at official price of N97 per litre, the pump attendants collected additional charges ranging between N100 and N200 per transaction.
Many of the filling stations in Akure were locked up on Tuesday as they claimed not to have the product, while those that sold it did so at exorbitant prices.
The scarcity become noticeable on Monday as the filling stations located along the popular Oba Adesida and Oyemekun Roads locked their entrances as a result of the non-availability of the product.
The fuel scarcity was said to have been caused by the vandalism of the pipeline at Ijegun area of Lagos state which had affected the supply of the product to Ondo State.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the state Task Force on Petroleum, Mr Jimoh Bello, said he was not aware of the increase in the pump price of the product by the markerters.
According to him, members of his team had been monitoring the stations since the scarcity started biting, adding that no culprit had been caught in the process.
The Chairman, however, pledged to continue monitoring to ensure that all the filling stations sold the product at the normal pump price and that no station hoarded the product.
Bello said, “We have not seen any station selling above the normal pump price and if we see any, there is a sanction for it, any major or independent marketer caught selling above the N97 pump price has committed a serious offence and would be dealt with by the government.
“We will still continue to go round the town to monitor and we will ensure that every station complies with the normal pump price, “he stated .
He further expressed assurance that the scarcity would be over before the end of the week, disclosing that officials of the NNPC had assured that the problem would be fixed.
Scarcity hits Oyo too
In a related development, residents of Oyo State capital, Ibadan, on Tuesday woke up to witness a harsher fuel scarcity as most filling stations in the metropolis were shut while few that were selling experienced a deluge of customers.
At the heart of the city, the scarcity was more pronounced with major filling stations bombarded by commercial and private vehicles, including commercial motorcycles.
For example, one of the three major filling stations around Mokola round about, sold fuel as of Tuesday evening. Conoil and FO filling stations closed their gates while only Oando filling station was attending to customers at N97 per litre.
Even those that were experiencing huge patronage were still maintaining the N97 fuel pump price.
At Oke- Ado, only Total filling station was selling to motorists while others closed their gates. But some motorists informed the Nigerian Tribune that one of the filling stations directly opposite Obafemi Awolowo stadium junction opened to the public intermittently.
The situation was however different in Sango. Two major filling stations at the Polytechnic junction were offering fuel for sale.
At Bodija junction, there was free flow of traffic because there was no hint of the scarcity.
While some areas had not really felt the impact, motorists had, however, become conscious of changing transport fare “due to stress we’re going through to get fuel.”
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the temporary scarcity was as a result of non-availability of fuel at the NNPC depot Apata, Ibadan.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Tuesday, blamed the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) being witnessed in Abeokuta and some parts of the state, on pipeline vandalism.
Source: Tribune
