NLC President Responds To Ongoing Scarcity

The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, in response to the ongoing fuel scarcity, said yesterday in Abuja that the various excuses given by government, as reasons for the fuel scarcity are not acceptable.

He said: “The NLC considers this scarcity as an act of cruelty and sabotage from which a few privileged are benefitting. The timing of this artificial scarcity is not lost on us, as it is intended to maximise pain and profit, since it is a well-known fact that the Christmas season witnesses the biggest movement of people, goods and services.”

Ayuba reiterated that the congress equally considers the scarcity as an insult to the collective pride of all good Nigerians. Also, NLC General Secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, said that the confusion in the downstream sub-sector of the Nigerian oil and gas sector was established when the price modulation based on petroleum products import regime was introduced.

“Nigerians will be bear us witness that we canvassed against the introduction of price modulation; we said it was going to fail. Our argument then was that there was no way a price modulation regime can work in an environment that is import dependent. It would be recalled that the NLC staged protests against the move, but we were ignored. Today, we are back to the same turf. The scarcity we are witnessing now is not new. It started two years ago technically.”

The Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Abdukadir Umar, said there are no plans to increase fuel price.

“We want to use this medium to assure all Nigerians that there is no need for apprehension or panic buying. We are confident that the NNPC, being a major supplier of petroleum products into the system and the supplier of last resort, can ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products into the market and the corporation has given assurances in that regard.”