Senate orders closure of filling stations hoarding fuel

The Senate yesterday took another drastic step in efforts to tackle the lingering fuel crisis in the country as its Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream) ordered the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to close any filling station hoarding fuel.

The joint committee which is presently investigating the persistent fuel scarcity in the country also gave assurance that the situation will soon be abated.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Thursday, Chairman of the committee, Mr. Magnus Abe, said 'We have given very clear instructions to the DPR that anybody, who has stock and is not selling in the hours that we have agreed, should have their licences revoked and their facilities sealed-off.'

He added that, 'I will get back to the DPR today to ensure that nobody toys with that instruction. If anybody has information as to the contrary, that the filling stations are hoarding, they should contact DPR and they would be dealt with.'

He gave assurance that the scarcity will soon be a thing of the past. 'The long queues at filling stations across the country would soon disappear.'

Giving reasons for his assurance, Abe said the committee had made contact with National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the Lagos State Government with a view to allowing tanker drivers lift petroleum products in compliance with the resolutions agreed with the Senate joint committee and stakeholders in the oil sector.

His words, 'I have spoken with the Lagos State Commissioner for Transport and the chairman of NUPENG in Lagos and they've assured me that everybody is complying.

'The situation will improve and it will continue to improve. There's still a lot of panic buying going on but, as days go by, the queues would reduce.'

Abe, said though he was satisfied with the progress made so far since the truce was brokered among stakeholders in the oil sector by the committee, there was urgent need for a drastic review and overhaul of the entire system and the entire scheme to avoid reoccurrence of the situation.

'It's a stop-gap measure to allow normalcy to return to the sector. It would be the responsibility of the incoming administration to look for a more permanent solution.

'I'm very confident that normalcy will soon be restored and I urge Nigerians to give the system a chance to correct itself and those who have fuel do not necessarily need to do back to the filling stations to refill because there's no scaring coming.

'Those, who do not need to buy for their cars or jerry-cans to go and store at home because when you do that, you are contributing to the scarcity. - Peoples Daily.