Abuja -A member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Isiaka Ibrahim (Ogun-APC) has urged the Federal Government to privatise its refineries to address insufficiency of petrol in the country.
Ibrahim told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that the recurrent queues at petrol stations in the country was due to the inability of previous governments to confront the problem headlong.
According to him, previous governments adopted temporary measures in addressing the problem instead of fixing the refineries.
“I doubt if any refinery is functional in this country; the past governments were doing shortcuts to make provision for petrol and petroleum products to be available in the country.
“And, when you are taking a short cut, it will only be at advantage at a short run, but in the long run you are bound to pay for it.
“ So, the graph started falling long from now and arresting the situation is not going to be a quick fix,’’ he said.
The lawmaker said that it would not be to the advantage of the country for the present administration to adopt temporary measures in addressing the problem in the fuel supply chain.
“I don’t want us to hoodwink this government into taking the same shortcut,’’ he said, and urged Nigerians to exercise patience with the current government in its efforts to address the issues in the sector.
“If you want the fuel to be available tomorrow, I know they can do it; then, next tomorrow you don’t see it again.
‘’But, if you want to fix something permanently, definitely it will have a teething problem,’’ he stated.
He said that there was the need for government to deregulate the petroleum sector for improved performance of the refineries.
“We all know what was happening when we were using NITEL, but with the advent of GSM, who talks about NITEL again.
“So, if we go the same way with NNPC and refineries, dispose them off, open the market to serious buyers and you will see the sector grow,’’ he added.
NAN reports that long queue of vehicles at filling stations had become common features in Abuja and major cities in the country in the past five days.
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Reacting to it, Mr Mohammad Saidu, Head, Public Affairs, Department of Petroleum Resources, Abuja, said it was due to ‘’small decline’’ in lifting of petrol from Suleja depot by oil dealers in Abuja and environs. (NAN)
Lawmaker urges FG to pivatise refineries, deregulate sector
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