Fuel Crisis: Group Blames Cronies Trading, Indiscriminate Licensing, Others As Causes

KINGSLEY BENNETH, ABUJA

ABUJA: The Economy Group, a non-governmental organisation, has identified the presence of cronies in trading, indiscriminate issuance of licenses, unavailability of laboratories to check adulterated products, and the influx of adulterated products into the country, as the challenges of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

It lamented the alleged mismanagement of the country’s oil and gas sector, which it said is behind the suffering endured by citizens.

Leader of the group, Rep. Esosa Iyawe (Oredo Federal Constituency) in a statement to journalists recommended the restructuring of the management of the oil sector regulatory body, NNPCL.

He also urged for thorough investigation across oil and gas sub-sectors, and into the corporation by the Joint House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream and Midstream).

Eseosa alleged that the NNPCL management was undermining the administration of President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

The statement partly read: “We, the 15 concerned lawmakers, state unequivocally that the woes of the oil and gas sector in the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration are caused mainly by the failures and mismanagement of the NNPCL.

“In the event they fail to step down on their own, the President should not hesitate to suspend them pending the investigation conducted by the House of Representatives through its joint Committee on Petroleum: Downstream and Midstream.

The petroleum sector remains the backbone of the nation’s economy, and the allegations uncovered by the House, which necessitated the forensic investigation, are astounding.”

However, the National Chairman of Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC), Olusegun Peters, absolved Mele Kyari, NNPCL (GCEO), of any blame over the difficulties Nigerians are facing, stating that the full deregulation of the oil and gas sector should be allowed to run its full course.

According to him, the government should not allow monopoly in the sector, particularly the downstream sector of oil and gas.

He added that it was only high level competition that could force down the cost of fuel and not about Mele Kyari.

He said, “left for me, Mele Kyari is not the problem and nobody should be allowed to monopolise the supply of fuel and that is what the NNPCL is trying to do that they are incurring the wrath of Nigerians in certain quarters.

“When they are talking about Dangote, let the NNPCL remove all bottlenecks within the oil sector and allow other persons to come in to carry out activities of oil and from there, more people will come up with their own businesses that will make the fuel cheaper than what it is now..”