To compensate for disappointment from a lingering nightmare of fuel scarcity, Nigerians expected President Muhammadu to move beyond merely condemning the crisis. In his speech to usher in 2018, he disappointed them when he dismissed the allegation that intrigues in the Presidency forced millions to celebrate Christmas on fuel queues at petrol stations across the country.
In his address, President Buhari condemned the situation that could have been avoided. He said that instead of showing love, “some of our compatriots chose this period to inflict severe hardship on us all by creating unnecessary fuel scarcity across the country”.
For obvious reasons, the president avoided detailing how government funded the difference between the old landing cost and the new one. Those aware of the N26 difference expected the president to announce a new fuel price regime as demanded by marketers but he disappointed them.
Critics however say that beyond the allegation of power play in Presidency, prompt response to concerns raised in a memo in July by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, could have averted the petrol scarcity nightmare. The avoidable situation positioned the Federal Government for the hilarious role of reacting in panic because of fear of admitting that system stability impossible outside the demands made by marketers.
The strategic review of the sector prepared by the minister, The Next Edition learnt, included recommendations on how to avert anticipated shortfall in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), that resulted in long queues at petrol stations.
Legitimate concerns were allegedly ignored, inevitably forcing government to shift claims rapidly to accommodate startling claims of subsidiary debts that oil marketers insist must be paid to guarantee stability in the product supply chain.
According to sources, the memo that got drowned in Aso Villa intrigues identified with legitimate concerns shared by professionals in the regulatory NNPC. The recommendation for quick augmentation of strategic stocks to prevent sabotage, for example, invariably validated claims of subsidy debts by marketers to justify their renewed lobby for upward review of the subsisting N145 pump price of petrol.
“Nigerians expected the president’s New Year address to go beyond merely lamenting the untold pains the lingering scarcity inflicted on ordinary citizens. They are tired of excuses and expected the president to identify culprits and punish them accordingly. The president should remember that as de facto petroleum minister, Nigerians hold him responsible for disruptions and instability in the sector,” Mr Bankole Adejumo, a university teacher told The Next Edition.
“If the minister’s memo was prevented from getting to the president, whoever stopped it should be identified and punished for the national embarrassment he caused. The minister’s concerns have been vindicated,” Adejumo further said.
In Lagos and other cities where residents were either trapped in fuel queue vigils or were forced to pay outrageously exorbitant transport fares, Nigerians berated official propaganda that the fuel scarcity was artificial. Yet, marketers justify their renewed lobby to increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS or petrol), with the argument that the current N145 per litre pump price does not cover landing cost of importation.
Analysts say that killing the minister’s memo demonstrated least concern for the welfare of citizens who eventually suffered most when the bubble finally burst on the original official claim that the fuel scarcity was artificial.
“The claim by marketers that the N145 pump price is no longer realistic shows that government is economical with the truth about the situation,” Mr Uche Okafor, a banker, told The Next Edition after spending days in a fuel queue.
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“If the landing cost has increased and marketers insist that the old rate is no longer realistic, government should tell Nigerians so,” he added.
Part of the truth that Nigerians expected from the president’s address was announcement of a fresh petrol price hike which is inevitable. According to Okafor, because business is driven by market realities, the president can only delay what is inevitable, not prevent it.
To get to the bottom of the fuel subsidy row which erupted between the Executive and Legislative arms of government, the Senate recalled its Committee on Downstream Sector of the petroleum industry from recess. Its chairman, Senator Kabiru Marafa, said only the Senate had the mandate to authorise payment of fuel subsidy that the government continues to pay, despite official denials.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki directed the committee to cut short its recess and “immediately” convene a meeting with stakeholders to resolve the lingering scarcity. The red chamber said it was determined to investigate how the FG maintained the N145 per litre pump price when the landing cost shot to N171. The Senate expressed determination to ascertain authority for the N26 difference that government pays marketers to guarantee stability in the product supply chain.
With the public hearing by the National Assembly, more facts emerged, and to a reasonable extent, the real reasons why the country may, for a long time, remain in a fuel crisis were made apparent.
According to Kachikwu, unless the country refines its product, there might be no end to the long and winding queues at filling stations.
