Nigeria’s fuel scarcity has been blamed on series of systemic problems and more importantly, fraudulent activities of fuel suppliers and marketers who have been accused of various sharp practices.
At the ongoing Town Hall Meeting in Lagos, South West Nigeria, Ibe Kachikwu, The federal minister of state for petroleum resource, blamed the aggravation of the fuel scarcity on diverted trucks meant to supply key parts of the country. According to him: “Lagos consumes about 200 trucks per day. When we supply 400 trucks, we discovered that most of the trucks are diverted to neighbouring countries for sale.”
To combat the problem, Kachikwu said his ministry is planning to curb such fraudulent acts by installing trackers on tankers. “We will not work with anyone who is not ready to allow trackers on their trucks.”
The minister also announced that the Port Harcout and Warri Refineries have started producing fuel. He also said that Kaduna Refineries will also be back on track by the next one week.
Nigeria has been gripped by crippling petroleum scarcity and blackouts across the country. As regards the blackouts, the government explained that gas pipelines that supply power plants were vandalized in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s oil rich nations.
Kachikwu is the assistant oil minister, president Mohammadu Buhari is the substantive minister for petroleum resources.
