NNPC Must Open More Petrol Depots to Solve Incessant Scarcity—Lawmaker

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has been advised by the House of Representatives to consider opening more petrol depots across the country to solve the incessant scarcity of the product.

While passing a motion moved by a member of the lower parliament on Thursday, Mr Uju Kingsley, it was stressed that this move will go a long way to put an end to the regular long queues that appear at fuel stations every now and then.

The lawmaker argued that Nigeria has insufficient depots to store petroleum products, which he said was responsible for the menace, which has refused to divorce Nigeria.

He also called for the proper regulation of the operations of private depots that received supplies from the NNPC only to allegedly resell at exorbitant prices to pump stations.

Mr Kingsley noted that an estimated 100 million litres of bad petrol imported in Nigeria have caused fuel scarcity with the consequent effect of adulteration of the product by roadside black market vendors;

According to him, the adulterated petrol has caused severe damage to vehicle engines and inflicted more pain on the people and despite seeming efforts to address the fuel scarcity, long queues and shortage of the product still persist at fuel stations across the country;

He noted that based on information available on the official website of the NNPC, “Nigeria has 5,000 kilometres of pipeline network, 21 storage depots and nine LPG depots which are grossly inadequate to effectively serve the 36 States of the country as well as the Federal Capital Territory, hence the recurrent fuel scarcity.”

He submitted that, “If more fuel depots are established, fuel scarcity will be curbed while more employment opportunities will be created as a result, thus improving the country’s economy.”