Fuel queues: Reps Petroleum C’ttee urges calm

The House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources, Downstream and Midstream have said that t petrol products are available in Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL storage facilities, about 1.5 billion litres of petrol that can last for 30 days. 

The downstream and midstream committees led by Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and Hon. Odianosen Henry Okojie stated this at a press conference focused on scarcity and how to provide solutions.

Ugochinyere who represents Ideato North South Federal Constituency of Imo State, stated that in the last few days, the downstream and midstream committees reached out to the stakeholders in the distribution value chain; the NNPCL, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA),  Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and engaged extensively with them, to ascertain the cause of the resurgence of the fuel queues across the country. 

The lawmakers expressed concerns over the temporary presence of fuel queues in petrol stations across the country which has adversely affected the lives and businesses of Nigerians.

However, they were optimistic that normalcy would return in a few days.

According to Ugochinyere, from investigations, they found that petrol products, at least about 1.5 billion litres of petrol which could last for 30 days are available. 

He noted that the queues resurfaced because of logistics and the logistic issues range from difficulty in transporting products from the mother vessel to the respective petrol stations.

He assured that the lawmakers have assurances from the value chain regulators that these bottlenecks are being cleared.

He also assured that the Committees with oversight activities in the Downstream and Midstream petroleum sectors have resolved that going forward, to avert the reoccurrence of this temporary challenge of distribution disruption, they shall work with the NNPCL, NMDPRA, PETROAN, NARTO and other key stakeholders in the distribution chain, towards finding a sustainable solution in ensuring that they do not run into such avoidable disruption in the near future, which can hamper economic activities.