Scarcity: Alison-Madueke accuses oil marketers of diversion

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has vowed to punish any marketer found to be diverting petroleum products, especially petrol, to areas not intended for them.

The minister accused some petroleum marketers of aggravating the fuel scarcity currently being experienced in the country.

She spoke on Sunday during an unscheduled inspection of some filling stations in Lagos State.

Alison-Madueke said, “We have enough fuel to wet the country, but the challenge we are having is that after loading, some truck drivers will not supply the lifted products at the designated filling stations. 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 in order to make them difficult for tracking.”

The minister, who threatened to publish the names of the marketers found diverting fuel, said a directive had been given to the Department of Petroleum Resources, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency to investigate the issue and report back in 24 hours.

She said, “There is diversion and I want some ideas about the diversion. If we can establish that there is, I want to know when and how this is being done.

“I have directed the heads of the agencies – the DPR, PPMC and PPPRA – to get back to me on Monday and give me a clear picture and timeline in terms of the number of trucks coming into Lagos, the volume and where they are getting to in terms of the market.

“They need to supply me how these trucks are being tracked because diversion is not easy to do. There will be sanctions and I’m ready to publish the names of anybody that may be involved.”

The minister, however, insisted that there was enough product in the strategic reserves that would last for over two weeks should the importation of fuel be suspended now.

Alison-Madueke visited over 15 filling stations in Surulere, Ikoyi, Ajah and Iponri areas of the state.

She had earlier given the PPMC, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, 48 hours to end the fuel scarcity being experienced in Lagos and other parts of the country.

To achieve this, the PPMC said it would supply about 110 million litres of petrol to filling stations in Lagos on Monday (today).

The Executive Director, Commercials, PPMC, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, said this was aimed at restoring normal fuel supply.

Komolafe said on Friday that over 74 million litres of petrol had already been distributed in Lagos and its environs, adding that with the level of distribution across the country, normal fuel supply would return to filling stations by Monday.