• Says scarcity to end April 7
•CD threatens mass action
•Oil majors shun importation, says NNPC
From Fred Itua, Abuja and Segun Olatunji, Abeokuta
Embattled Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday, maintained that he would not resign as minister over his inability to resolve the persistent fuel scarcity, even as he apologised to Nigerians.
Appearing before the Senate committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Kachikwu said he still has a lot to offer Nigerians and will therefore not succumb to calls for his resignation even as he lashed out at his critics, over his comments that he was not a magician who could end fuel scarcity overnight.
Kachikwu who apologised over the hardship occasioned by the biting scarcity, was however ambiguous as to the definite date the scarcity would end.
In his earlier remarks during the grilling session, Kachikwu had said the scarcity would be over on or before April 7, 2016. He later recanted, saying the scarcity would be a thing of the past by the second week of April.
Last week, during a chat with State House correspondents shortly after he led a joint delegation of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari who is also the substantive minister for petroleum, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Kachikwu said he was not a magician and could not end the scarcity of fuel overnight. He also noted that despite the efforts being put in place by the Federal Government, fuel queues might not be completely eliminated until May.
That statement drew the ire of former governor of Lagos State and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu who lambasted the minister over what he described as arrogant, insulting and insensitive remarks.
Following the umbrage by Tinubu in a statement he personally signed and entitled: Kachikwu needs to know that respect and good performance will do what magic cannot, public criticisms of the minister soared with a cross section of Nigerians calling on him to relinquish his office.
But addressing the senate, Kachikwu who also doubles as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said: “I do apologize for the comment that I made jokingly with my friends in the press about being a magician and it offended Nigerians. It was not meant to be, it was a side jocular issue.
“I did go on to explain what needed to be done, I did not know that it would create the kind of hyperbole that it did. Let me first admit that I am not a typically experienced politician, I am a technocrat. I came to work.
“Some of the phrases that I may use, while being acceptable in the arena in which I play, obviously will not be acceptable in the public political arena. So, if anybody’s sensibilities were offended by those, I totally apologize.”
The minister added that he shared the pains of Nigerians, stressing that he worked all day to monitor the supply with a view to ensuring that the challenge is brought to an end.
He said he had continued to work with one sole purpose which is that every problem must have a solution and as such, the problem of the petroleum industry would be surmounted.
However, the NNPC has cast doubt over the minister’s promise to banish the spirit of fuel scarcity as its raised the alarm that most oil majors have completely pulled out from the importation business.
The NNPC said the current crude oil supply can only meet half of the 45 million litres needed across the country on a daily basis.
“We genuinely empathize with the attendant sufferings and wish to reassure that we are focused and committed to bringing an end to this situation within the next few days and we kindly call on all Nigerians to partner with us on this journey to allowing the whole process of change come into fruition,” Garba Deen Muhammed, spokesman of the corporation, said in a statement.
“Changes usually take time, effort and a lot of focus. We understand the plight of Nigerians and the impact on the overall economy.
“NNPC is burdened with the obligation to guarantee almost 100 per cent in the national supply, since the domestic crude oil supply (445,000 bbls/d) can only guarantee about 50 per cent of the 45 million litres national requirement for petrol; we have secured presidential approval to take additional crude oil volume to guarantee national supply of petrol.”
Muhammed said the current administration inherited a huge catalog of issues and problems in the downstream sector.
He listed some of the problems as subsidy payments to oil marketers, corruption and inefficiencies in the supply and distribution chain, incessant vandalism of pipelines and refineries poor performance.
“A combination of these issues resulted in most oil majors completely pulling out from the importation business and NNPC assuming a near 100 per cent importation obligation without the necessary logistics put in place,” the statement read.
“In line with the change agenda of this administration, NNPC management initiated and made progress on various key solutions to providing a lasting end to these issues.
“The unpaid arrears arising from the subsidy regime had necessitated most oil marketers to stop all forms of involvement in petroleum products imports. Thankfully, with the firm support of Mr. President and the National Assembly, we greatly reduced this debt burden and since January, 1st 2016 we have been able to eliminate subsidy payments by managing prices at current levels through price modulation. This has resulted to savings of over 100 billion naira monthly for the nation.”
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Democracy (CD) has warned the Federal Government to make petrol available to Nigerians or risk a mass action by civil society groups and ordinary Nigerians.
The newly elected president of the CD, Bako Abdul Usman stressed that the government’s seeming inaction about the perennial fuel scarcity or failure to address the problem would force the civil society organizations in the country to return to the trenches to protest the anomaly.
“We want to use this medium to tell the Federal Government that enough is enough. We don’t want to go back to the streets like before. They should reconstitute the PPPRA committee that has since been dissolved. The Federal Government should be able to know where the problem is and tackle it headlong,” Usman said.
He advised the Federal Government to strive to live up to its responsibilities to the Nigerian people.