The minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison – Madueke, has apologised to Nigerians over the recent scarcity of premium motor spirit (Fuel) in major cities across the country.
Madueke said the situation ought not to have arisen in the first place but greedy marketers who thought government had planned to increase the pump price of the product embarked on hoarding.
The minister, who flew in from the United States of America on Saturday specifically to observe the situation in Lagos told journalists shortly after visiting a couple of outlets that she would punish any marketer found hoarding fuel henceforth.
Madueke said she learnt some marketers had also diverted fuel at the expense of Nigerians and vowed the situation would not be tolerated again.
“Having gone round the state (Lagos), it is not just the filling stations at Ikoyi that appeared to be wet with the product, but other extreme locations like Ajah and other parts in Surulere.
“It appears there are lots of factors militating against efficient delivery of fuel. We learnt that some of the marketers instructed their drivers to change the number plates of their trucks to make it difficult for tracking. Does it mean those markets they are diverting the product to are more lucrative than the intended market.
“I have directed the heads of the agencies, DPR, PPMC and PPPRA, to get back to me today and give me a clear picture and timeline in terms of numbers of trucks coming into Lagos, the volumes and where they are getting to in terms of the market.There is diversion and I want some ideas about the diversion. If we can establish there is, I want to know when and how this is being done,” she said .
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