The Petroleum Tankers Drivers, PTD, arm of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, over the weekend blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, for the current scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, in some parts of the country.
National Chairman of the PTD, Comrade Salimon Akanni Oladiti, who made this assertion while interacting with reporters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said oil marketers were not hoarding fuel.
He spoke against the backdrop of biting petrol scarcity in Ibadan which has resulted in increase in the pump price of the product which is now selling at N120 per litre, while some others dispense at N110 per litre. Also in service stations are long queues with motorists struggling to buy the product.
According to him, “We are not conniving with anybody to make Nigerians suffer for fuel. For some time now, we have not been able to load at NNPC depot in Apata, Ibadan and there is no hope of loading in some other NNPC depots in the Southwest.
“Government is responsible for this problem, because if they bring enough oil into the country, we as distributors we are ready to sell it out. It’s so sad that we are one of the largest producers of oil, but we are still suffering from scarcity.”
Oladiti went on to explain that, “NNPC imports about 75 per cent of the oil we are consuming in the country. The remaining 25 percentage is for major marketers.
“What the government is trying to tackle still exist; corruption is still in the oil industry. There is corruption and bribery at the oil depots and you have to face this hurdle before you can load your truck.”
While stressing that the government needs to find a lasting solution to incessant fuel scarcity as “the common man in the country is suffering,” he urged the government to embark on aggressive rehabilitation of roads and railway networks.
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