#Fuelscarcity: Baru, Kachikwu deceived Nigerians – Falana

Popular Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana, has said the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, and the minister of state for petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, have deceived Nigerians by saying there was enough fuel to supply consumers.
Falana said that, despite the assurance, the scarcity of the product had persisted.
“In view of the shortage of petrol throughout the country, it is indubitably clear that Kachikwu and Baru deliberately set out to deceive the Nigerian people when they gave the misleading impression that there was enough fuel to cater for all consumers,” Falana said.
“On December 7, 2017, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) was reported to have ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to address the fuel scarcity in some parts of the country at the material time.
“The decision was conveyed to Nigerians by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, at the end of the FEC meeting which held in Abuja on that day.
“The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, who could not attend the meeting, was said to have given FEC an assurance that there was no cause for alarm. According to Mohammed, Kachikwu had told the FEC that there was enough fuel in the country to last till January 2018. And that there was no intention by the federal government to increase the pump price of fuel.
“Nigerians were also informed that the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, had cut short his trip to London as queues returned to the country’s filling stations.
“Before leaving for London, Baru had said, ‘For the umpteenth time, I wish to call on all Nigerians to stop panic buying. We have said, times without number, that NNPC has sufficient products to cater for the needs of all consumers’.
“Baru was further reported to have directed that more truckloads of petroleum products be dispatched to various parts of the country to cushion the effects of excessive demand caused by panic buying,”the statement reads in part.