One of the groups in the petrol marketing business, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), on Monday, said the 48-hour ultimatum issued by the Department of State Services (DSS) to oil marketers to ensure availability of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), petrol, to Nigerians, will not solve the scarcity crisis in the country.
Chairman of the PETROAN, System 2E, Eastern Zone, Sunny Nkpe, in a media interaction on Monday, emphasised that the DSS should rather go after the cartel operating among private depot owners that are hoarding petrol. He said that if they do not do that, the fuel scarcity will persist in the country.
According to Nkpe, “Let me make it categorically clear here: there is no amount of threat by DSS that is going to change anything. If it must change, they must start from the source; they should go to the private depot operators to find out where for now we are getting products from.
“Until the cartel or cabal in that area is handled or taken care of, we can never get any reduction or fairness in the distribution of the product.”
However, former President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Peter Esele, noted that the DSS must have been privy to vital information within the supply value chain to have issued the ultimatum.
According to Esele, “For DSS to come out and issue an ultimatum, the DSS must be privy to some information… “Everyone must focus on the DSS to come out with its results within 48 hours or else, DSS may also be a player in the game.
“DSS must tell Nigerians its findings within 48 hours and whoever is behind this should be prosecuted because there are enough products in this country for everybody to get petrol.”
DSS Spokesman, Peter Afunanya, last Thursday ordered oil marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to make petrol available to Nigerians and end the fuel crisis, threatening that failure to comply with the order, the Service may activate its operations across the country.