Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited said it was
releasing, last night, about 13 million litres, approximately 400 trucks, of
petroleum products including premium motor spirit, popularly called petrol, to
ease the scourge of the endemic fuel scarcity that Nigeria had been plunged
into.
The company will release a total of 70 million litres in the
coming days.
The move has, therefore, broken the ranks of oil marketers
and depot operators, who have refused to import any more products until their
outstanding subsidy claims of over N200 billion is paid by the Federal
Government.
The marketers have now become jittery over the development
because they are now being exposed as saboteurs, seeing they have enough fuel
stock in their depots but have refused to dispense them, even as they are
losing billions of Naira daily.
Long queue of jerry cans at a petrol station as fuel
scarcity bites harder, yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.
Long queue of jerry cans at a petrol station as fuel
scarcity bites harder, yesterday. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.
Sequel to the general elections, the country had been
experiencing sporadic fuel shortages, until it snowballed into a complete
shutdown in the recent weeks, thereby paralysing almost all social and economic
activities in the country.
Speaking, yesterday, about the sudden release of the product
at the Capital Oil Depot in Apapa, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer,
Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah, told journalists that the move was meant to reduce the pain
Nigerians are experiencing on account of the scarcity.
It’s sabotage
Ubah described the current crisis as sabotage, saying: “We
are constrained at this point and have decided that two wrongs cannot make a
right. We will not be part of this sabotage against our fatherland. Therefore,
from this minute, we shall take the risk of opening our facilities and commence
swift loading and distribution of products nationwide.”
He also gave the assurance that once the current stock is
exhausted, there are vessels laden with petroleum products at the jetty waiting
to berth.
He said: “Our facility has the capacity to load over 13
million litres before dawn. This comes to approximately 400 trucks of petroleum
products.”
Urges other marketers to follow suit
Expressing the hope that normalcy will soon return with the
resumption of socio-economic activities, Ubah also called “on other petroleum
marketers to follow suit and save our nation from this impending economic and
social crisis.”
He added that the current situation called for patriotism
and service, which is why the Capital Oil truck park, port and depot reception
facilities have been opened and have commenced loading of products and ordered
to move overnight to every state of the federation.
He recalled that operators were informed of the shutdown of
loading activities from the depots via a text message on Saturday May 16, which
became effective on Monday, May 18
He noted that since then Nigerians have suffered immense
hardship, with petrol now selling at an all-time high of between N500 and N1000
per litre depending on location and outlet.
Marketers and black market operators have been at their best
in sharp practices, while the industry regulator, the Department of Petroleum
Resources, DPR, is overwhelmed by it all and helpless to sanction any one for
infractions.”
Against this backdrop, the Capital Oil boss argued that the
way out of the current predicament is the total deregulation of the downstream
petroleum sector.
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