Minister for petroleum gives 48hours ultimatum for fuel to be made available

 the Pipelines and Products Marketing
Company,  PPMC, said it will inject additional 110
million litres of petrol into the market this week. The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani
Alison-Madueke, had given PPMC and oil marketers
48 hours to clear the long queues at filling stations
and end the lingering fuel shortages. Confirming the development with journalists at the
weekend in Lagos, PPMC Executive Director
(Commercial), Mr Gbenga Komolafe, said PPMC, a
subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, NNPC, had already supplied more than
74 million litres of petrol to Lagos, last week. Standstill at Mile-2 to Tincan, along Oshodi-Apapa
expressway as a result of Fuel tanker Illegal parking
on the road, the journey of 5mins torus to 7 hour,
yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola, photo editor. He gave the assurance that with the level of petrol in
distribution across the country, normalcy would soon
return to filling stations. Komolafe said,  “We have put in some measures to
halt the  artificially-induced fuel scarcity noticeable in
parts of the country. We have also put in place
measures to  ensure a free-flow of petrol at  filling
stations  in Lagos. NNPC is expected to supply 50
per cent of the petrol, while other marketers will supply 50 per cent.” He explained further, “We have engaged
stakeholders, including the NNPC, Major Oil
Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, and
Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of
Nigeria, IPMAN, to find lasting solutions to the
lingering fuel situation.” He also used the opportunity to reiterate that there is
no plan by the Federal Government to increase the
pump price of petrol, and appealed to marketers to
stop hoarding the fuel. He added, “Members of the public should also not
engage in panic buying. We are convinced that in the
days ahead,  fuel situation will normalise as there is
enough petrol to go round.”

Vanguard