The Senate yesterday gave President Muhammadu Buhari two weeks ultimatum to end the fuel scarcity across the country.
The ultimatum was given when stakeholders in the sector led by the ministry of petroleum, Permanent Secretary, Jamila Shu’ara appeared before the Senate committee on downstream petroleum.

The position of the Senate was made known by Senator Uche Lilian Ekwunife (PDP, Anambra Central) after the Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), Esther Nnamdi Ogbua, the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA), Ahmed Faruk and other stakeholders briefed the lawmakers.
Ekwunife who chairs the Senate committee on downstream petroleum said in addition to the availability of fuel, the price of the commodity must be same across the country.

“The scarcity of petrol must be stopped and the discrepancies in the price of the commodity must also be addressed. We will give you target,” she said.
The lawmakers also gave the PPPRA 24 hours to submit the breakdown of the N413bn subsidy payment. The 24 hours ultimatum elapses today.

Also addressing the stakeholders, the vice chairman of Senate committee on downstream petroleum Jibrin I. Barau (APC, Kano North) said the Senate would deal with anybody who wants to stop their quest to address the challenges bedevilling the petroleum sector.

Fielding answer to questions from the Senators, the PPPRA boss, Ahmed Faruk said N120 billion out of the N413billion outstanding subsidy money was from 2014.
He said presently the price of petroleum at the open market was N100 and that the Federal government is paying a subsidy of N13 on each litre of the product.

The Group Executive Director (Commercial and Investment) of the NNPC, Babatunde Adeniran said the subsidy has to be paid as at when due to address the scarcity of the petroleum and that, the pipelines must be made to function well.
On her part, the PPMC boss, Esther Nnamdi Ogbua said the marketers are sabotaging the move to make fuel available in the country.

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