NIGERIA. Oyo State. Niger State: The Federal Government’s improper allocation of priorities, according to the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), is to blame for the lack of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), better known as gasoline, which contributed to the product’s shortage across the nation.
For Nigerians to be blaming tanker drivers for the product’s scarcity in the nation, according to Comrade William Akporeha, president of NUPENG’s Oyo state chapter, they should instead be blaming the federal government for their careless position and for refusing for years to build additional refineries to meet Nigerians’ needs.
At the 5th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of NUPENG in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, Akporeha announced this.
Tanker drivers shouldn’t be held responsible for the scarcity of petrol; rather, the government should be held accountable for refusing to construct new refineries during the past 30 to 40 years. Why is there a scarcity of petrol? Where is the product?
“The scarcity is not caused by tanker drivers but by the government’s misplaced priority. If the product is available, members will move it around,” Akporeha said.
“The refineries we are using in Nigeria today were built by the military regime in the past 30 to 40 years ago, surely this alone is enough to hinder the county’s success in terms of supply of petroleum to the final consumers,” Akporeha added.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Suleja branch, however, has also accused the Federal Government of Nigeria of having a shortage of petroleum as a result of the failure to pay bridging claims.
Since June of this year, the organisation has paid N74 billion in claims to oil marketers.
The General Manager, Corporate Communications, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Kimchi Apollo, informed the newsmen in Abuja of the aforementioned remark.
According to Apollo, IPMAN members earned N42.30 billion while the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) received N9.96 billion.
N6.66 billion went to NNPC Retails, while N12.30 billion—or N73.97 billion—was given to DAPPMAN members.
Transporting petroleum from refineries to filling stations across the country costs are known as bridging claims.
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