From Damola Adeloye, Ibadan
Chieftain of New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Ambassador Olufemi Oguntoyinbo yesterday called on the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, address the current hardship occasioned by the non-availability of petroleum products across the country.
Oguntoyinbo, in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, said what President Bola Tinubu promised Nigerians when he resumed office last year was that with the removal of subsidy, there won’t be scarcity of fuel, but Nigerians have seen that the president failed to keep to his promise.
He said the situation has become terrible because there is poor electricity supply, with the whole country in darkness. While Nigerians are used to powering their generating sets with diesel and Petroleum Motor Spirit, the products are unavailable.
The NNPP chieftain said when Nigerians were complaining about poor power supply nine years ago, during the early days of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu begged Nigerians that the All Progressives Congress, APC, was just assuming office and that incessant electricity shortage would become a thing of the past.
According to him, “however, nine years after, with Tinubu as president, electricity supply is still low or non-available in many parts of the country. To make it worse, people cannot find petroleum products to buy, even when they are ready to cough out their hard earned money to do so.
“What this means is that the APC that has been blaming the Peoples Democratic party, PDP, for the woes of the country, has also failed Nigerians after nine years in power.
“President Tinubu must, as the Minister of Petroleum, find solutions to the current non-availability of fuel in the country. It is sad that we are witnessing the scarcity of fuel now that Nigerians are celebrating little reduction in the price of foodstuffs.
“The little gain we recorded will evaporate soon due to the high cost of transportation as a result of non-availability of petroleum products.
“The president needs to investigate the activities of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, and if possible, sanction whoever caused this current scarcity.
“It is sad that despite the fact that many people are ready to buy at a high rate, fuel is not even available and it has been affecting many things including the transportation of foodstuffs from rural to urban areas.
“We cannot continue like this as a country. The president needs to summon courage and find lasting solutions to the perennial fuel scarcity in parts of the country”.
He also called on former presidents and other statesmen to come out and find solutions to the current problem as, according to him, the fuel scarcity affects almost every home in the country.
“What is currently happening should be looked at beyond politics. Former presidents and other statesmen should come out and proffer solutions”, he said.
