- The National Association of Nigerian Students blame the uncertainty in the petroleum industry on the fact that Buhari is heading the sector
- The group states that Nigerians have been made to pass through untold hardship for a fault of others
- DPR seals over 62 petrol stations shut down, 7 arrested for hoarding fuel
The National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS) zone B, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to step-down as minister of petroleum resources.
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The group in a statement by its zonal coordinator, Comrade Pedro Obi, called on the president to appoint Ibe Kachikwu as the substantive minister of petroleum resources following the lingering fuel scarcity in the country, Vanguard reports.
NANS blamed the uncertainty in the petroleum industry on the fact that Buhari was heading the sector.
It said: “Buhari’s pseudo heading of the Petroleum Ministry has presented an uncertainty in the petroleum industry, and we therefore call for a substantive Petroleum Minister.”
“Nigerians have been made to pass through untold hardship for a fault of not theirs, with conflicting and counter directives emanating from the top hierarchy of the petroleum industry.
The group described the sealing of filling stations by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as sheer hypocrisy, adding if the agency was serious about controlling the price of the product, it should go to the petroleum depots where these private filling station owners lift product.
“Nigerians have been deceived, stolen dry and the various promises of reform in the industry have turned into a mirage as a result of nepotism occasioned by an incompetent manning of the industry," it stated.
NANS called for for the upgrade of Ibe Kachikwu as the substantive minister of petroleum resources, stating that the minister of state for petroleum petroleum resources has not been given free hand to carry out his laudable plans for the sector.
“At this point of our nationhood, if truly Buhari means well for the suffering Nigerian masses, this is surely the irreducible minimum demand, President Buhari can give to Nigerians, if he actually means well for us,” it stated.
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Meanwhile, through the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian federal government, has sealed over 62 petrol stations across the country, The Punch reports.
NAIJ.com gathered that the petrol stations were sealed due to varying acts of malpractices, including selling petrol, far above the N145 official pump price.
The Head of Operations, DPR, Kwara State, Oyedele Ibitayo, said the agency had sealed no fewer than 10 petrol stations in the state for varying acts of malpractices and infractions since the fuel crisis started.
Ibitayo stated that their offences ranged from under-delivery, over-pricing and product diversion. He added that one of the stations sold petrol as high as N250 per litre. He said punishments meted out to the defaulters varied depending on their offence.
The Kwara head of operations also noted that while some were shut down for between two and six months, others were asked to pay a fine of N200,000 and sign an undertaking that they would not be involved in such sharp practices again.
Fuel scarcity: This is getting too much for us - Nigerians lament on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng
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Saturday, 30 December 2017