Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has disclosed that the Federal Government has taken bold steps to end the lingering petrol scarcity across the country, while assuring Nigerians of massive distribution of the product.
Sylva gave the assurance after his tour of some select petroleum dispensing outlets in Lagos on Friday.
He said that he arrived the city on the directive of President Muhammdu Buhari, to assess the situation with regards to distribution and adherence to price regulation.
The minister said that an inter-ministerial intervention committee, initiated by government, has set out to ensure proper management of petrol distribution across the country.
He reassured that with the current steps, all hiccups leading to the current situation are being addressed.
According to him, the situation is pleasant because he observed availability of products in the state.
“Fuel is everywhere, both in Lagos and Abuja.
“I visited many stations in Ikeja and on the mainland. From every indication, there are products everywhere and I want to assure you that the queues will disappear in a matter of days,” he said.
The minister said the situation witnessed in Lagos had been achieved in 15 states across the country, adding that the president had ordered that queues must be cleared immediately.
On arbitrary price hike by some marketers, he said that he had directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority ( NMDPRA) to upscale its regulatory activities and ensure that marketers abide by current price regime.
He said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., (NNPCL), retail outlets were selling at N184 per liter and over 900 outlets operated by the company were selling at same price.
“And that is the official price everybody is expected to sell at, but l admit that there are sharp practices still ongoing,” he added.
Explaining how the situation degenerated to this point, Sylva said that government did not see it coming.
According to him, sabotage plays a key role in the sector as those who do not mean well for the country, took advantage of the upcoming elections to create panic by engaging in market disruptions.
The minister pointed out that other factors like insecurity, foreign exchange scarcity and currency availability, further compounded the situation.
He however said that the inter-ministerial body inaugurated by the president, is now working in synergy to checkmate all challenges and block all loopholes.
Newsmen report that NNPCL, on Thursday, allocated 150 million litres of petrol to Ijegun-Egba Satellite depots to ease the scarcity that has lasted for more than 10 months.