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Senate summons Kachikwu over fuel scarcity

The Senate on Monday summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, to appear before its Committee on Petroleum Downstream on Tuesday, over lingering fuel scarcity in the country.
Fuel queue at MRS filling station, Airport road Abuja on Thursday, March 10, 2016. PHOTO: NAN

Fuel queue at MRS filling station, Airport road Abuja on Thursday, March 10, 2016. PHOTO: NAN

The Senate on Monday summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, to appear before its Committee on Petroleum Downstream on Tuesday, over lingering fuel scarcity in the country.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Sen. Jibrin Barau, told newsmen shortly after an on-the-spot assessment of filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that the summons became necessary following the hardship on Nigerians.

He decried that in spite of assurances from the ministry that the situation would be brought under control, it had lingered.

“We have invited the minister of state to appear before the committee tomorrow to tell us about the fuel scarcity problem and the strategy he is employing to solve it.

“We will expect him to give a date when the problem will be resolved permanently; this is the course of action we have taken.

“We are not satisfied because this problem has gone unabated for too long; the situation is appalling and it is a major problem.

“We gave the ministry enough time and space to put its act together to solve this problem.’’
Barau assured that the senate would take a position on the matter after hearing from the minister of state, who is also the Group Managing Director, NNPC

6 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Ibe should go and then let the senate appreciate the root cause of the problem. The short term and long term solutions. The short term is what he is doing. The long term is eliminating the root problem, which is terrorism in the Niger Delta. Whatever Ibe does – if terrorism in the Niger Delta is NOT stopped, they could undo it the same way they did it in December.

    This is not an NNPC issue – It is a national security problem. The federal government MUST as a matter of urgency fish out and eliminate these terrorists with the same gusto it deployed to eliminating the scourge of Boko Haram. If not done, as soon as the pipelines are repaired, they’d blow it up again. And everyone that have ever participated in these crimes should be fished out and punished to the furthest extent of the law. Surveillance, including the use of drones, should be employed to eliminate these criminals by all means necessary. Let us call it what it is. Not pipeline vandalism. Not militants action. It is terrorism. This terrorism is worse than Boko Haram. They have succeeded in shutting down the refineries -leading to acute fuel shortage, the generating plants leading to power outages and export from one of the terminals. These Terrorists are terrorizing entire population of Nigeria – this is why it is worse than Boko Haram.
    So the senate should also invite Arase to give a brief on what they are doing to produce the fugitive, Tompolo. They should also invite the military Chiefs on what they are doing to ensure that the terrorism in the Niger Delta is stopped

    • Author’s gravatar
      • Author’s gravatar

        Terrorists in Niger Delta????..What are there motives and gains for blowing up repaired pipelines? This should be addressed and furthermore to station tight security around the pipelines until the problems are solved. Would the senate summons be able to give better advice rather than criticisms on the matter.

        • Author’s gravatar

          By definition:YES!!! They are terrorist!
          Maybe u’ll prefer the ‘political term’ of freedom fighter’s!
          Let me make my case: Ken Saro-Wiwa can claim to be a freedom fighter but not definitely Tompolo or Asari Dokubo! That’s all I’m saying!
          As regards the Senate, the debate is still open even if they are representing the people whose mandate they profess to have and defend!
          If the NASS Had done there CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY of Budget Oversight; we wouldn’t be hearing of all the quantum of money ‘shared’ around!
          Officially contracts have already been awarded in previous budgets and if had been implemented, concerning security of pipelines we would have been seriously beyond this point (and this is not da bazaar to Tompolo and OPC early last year o). This Govt now has to start everything that was earlier captured in FGN budgets from scratch! So if the Senate is confronted with that mess, which includes their own ‘mess ups’ in not ensuring previous Budgets are implemented that would have solved this current issue, they won’t scream more as we have seen in earlier cases of even the dollar issue with CBN!

          • Author’s gravatar

            Thanks…well explained and fully understood.”Freedom fighters” more appropriate.

  • Author’s gravatar

    It’s unfair. Buhari should be invited since he’s the substantive minister.
    Ibe takes order from him, moreso, Ibe is also GMD which makes him work more than he should