Blame NNPC for fuel scarcity, says PTD

The Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) Branch of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.

PTD National Chairman Comrade Salimon Akanni Oladiti, who spoke in an interview with reporters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said oil marketers were not hoarding fuel.

“We are not conniving with anybody to make Nigerians suffer for fuel. For some time now, we have not been able to load at NNPC depot in Apata, Ibadan and there is no hope of loading in some other NNPC depots in the Southwest.

“Government is responsible for this problem, because if they bring enough oil into the country, we as distributors we are ready to sell it out. It’s so sad that we are one of the largest producers of oil, but we are still suffering from scarcity,” he said

Oladiti added: “NNPC imports about 75 per cent of the oil we are consuming in the country. The remaining 25 percentage is for major marketers.



“What the government is trying to tackle still exist; corruption is still in the oil industry. There is corruption and bribery at the oil depots and you have to face this hurdle before you can load your truck.”

He noted that government needs to find lasting solution to incessant fuel scarcity, adding: “The common man in the country is suffering.”

He urged the government to embark on aggressive rehabilitations of roads and railway networks