NNPC apologises to Nigerians, promises fuel scarcity will ease in one week – Newstrends
Connect with us

metro

NNPC apologises to Nigerians, promises fuel scarcity will ease in one week

Published

on

Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has apologised to Nigerians for the over three months of pains caused by the nationwide fuel scarcity.

The Group CEO, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, who spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s special election programme The 2023 Verdict on Tuesday, assured the public that the “glitch” will be resolved to everyone’s relief.

“I apologise for the situation. On behalf of all of us, the stakeholders in the oil and gas industry. Definitely, not surely exclusive. Having said this, it is unfortunate. It’s a glitch – we are responsible to [resolve] this glitch. We will resolve this,” he said.

Asked to specify when Nigerians will begin to see a turnaround, Kyari expressed a strong belief that the relief will be be felt “within the next one week.”

READ ALSO:

But there is a caveat.

“I’m not saying that you’re going to have zero queues within the next one week,” he added. “No, I can’t guarantee that because a number of things are out of our control.”

The NNPC boss explained that market forces will determine how quickly the situation is resolved, but in his view, the country is going to see substantial and relative ease in the next one week compared to the situation at present.

He gave an assurance that the NNPC will bring succour and relief to the Nigerian people, saying no one orchestrated the fuel scarcity.

“We have no benefit in doing this. We are families. We are members and part of this community. We are very proud of this country.

“We would like this country to prosper. We don’t want Nigerians to suffer and of course as a matter of condition, we don’t think that anyone should go through this thing,” he said.

Supply: The Solution

According to Kyari, the NNPC has been on top of the situation and the way to bring the crisis under control is by increasing supply from the 63 million litres per day as of January.

“We know that the solution is excess supply. Once we are able to do excess supply across the country, across locations, you are going to resolve this issue, which is exactly what we’re doing now,” he said.

“We’re ramping up evacuation today. On a daily basis, we are doing more than 70 million litres into the market against the regular evacuation of up to 63-64 million litres.

“This will work and we believe that the ease that we’re seeing in many locations today – I don’t want to cite specific locations but I know that we’re seeing ease across the country. This is easing up.”

Not Peculiar To Nigeria

On the topic of Nigeria’s scarcity in the midst of an abundance of crude product, the NNPC chief executive alluded to the global normalcy of fuel queues as Nigeria charts its way towards a return to local refining.

“Having fuel queues is really not something that is local to any one country. It happens everywhere – whenever you have either breaches of pipes, pipeline issues, and so on,” he said.

“We don’t hope that this happens to our country but you must have guarantee of supply in your country, which is why we are focused on delivering our refineries rehabilitation projects, so that ultimately this product becomes close to us.

“Now, this hasn’t happened. The refineries’ rehabilitation is not completed. The Dangote Refinery hasn’t taken off. Both of them will happen; once that happens, you have the safety and security of supply near you.”

In the absence of this intervention, his position is that, like other countries, importation is the only other option.

“And the guarantee I have now is that NNPC has locked supply into this country irrespective of the financing challenges that we’re facing,” he added.

Channels

metro

Defamation: Court orders arrest of prophet, two others

Published

on

Defamation: Court orders arrest of prophet, two others

Justice Olaolu Olanipekun of Oyo State Magistrates’ Court 7 sitting in Iyaganku, Ibadan, has issued a warrant for the arrest of a prophet of a Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S) church, Ojo Amos (aka Elewuogbo).

Justice Olanipekun ordered that Elewuogbo and his two sureties be arrested and detained for jumping bail.

Elewuogbo is on trial for alleged defamation of character of the Founder of One Love Family, Sat Guru Maharaj Ji.

READ ALSO:

Elewuogbo and a Lagos-based blogger, Gbenga Asabe, had, through publications, accused Maharaj Ji of selling human body parts for money rituals.

The court also granted request for consolidation of the cases against Elewuogbo and Asabe brought by Maharaj Ji’s counsel, Dapo Akinosi.

Akinosi prayed the court that since the facts were related, they should be merged. The court granted the application and adjourned the case till April 30.

Defamation: Court orders arrest of prophet, two others

Continue Reading

metro

Students drag university to court over payment of registration fees

Published

on

Students drag university to court over payment of registration fees

Three students of one of the universities in northern part of the country, Al-qalam University, Katsina, have dragged the institution to a High Court in Katsina over payment of registration fees.

The applicants, Hauwa’u Sani-Barda, Rabi’atu Sani-Barda and Hafsat Sani-Barda, all students of the respondent, got admission in 2018 and 2019, and graduated in 2022 and 2023.

They, however, claimed that the respondents had refused to mobilise them for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), because they had not settled all fees due to the institution.

READ ALSO:

During the proceedings on Thursday, the applicants’ counsel, Muhammad Mukhtar-Lawal, told the court that his clients had filed an exparte motion in pursuance to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

Mukhtar-Lawal said that the application sought the leave of the court to apply for judicial review.

After the counsel’s submission, the judge, Justice Abbas Bawale, said that the applicants should have filed a motion on notice.

Bawale, however, granted a leave order to the applicants to apply for judicial review by way of mandamus.
He said after that, processes would be served on the university and enable the court to hear the case.

Students drag university to court over payment of registration fees

Continue Reading

metro

NAFDAC busts fake Eva water factory, arrests suspect

Published

on

NAFDAC busts fake Eva water factory, arrests suspect

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has exposed a counterfeit bottled water operation in Port Harcourt, specifically targeting the renowned brand Eva water.

Following a tipoff, NAFDAC officials conducted a raid on a derelict shop situated on Pipeline Road, Eneka.

The establishment disguised as a pool house and served as the hub for producing the fraudulent water.

During the operation, authorities discovered that used Eva plastic bottles were being refilled with contaminated water sourced from a paint bucket.

The water was then filtered through unhygienic rubber funnels covered with cloth.

Counterfeit Eva labels were affixed to the bottles, which were subsequently sealed with fake Eva corks.

READ ALSO:

One suspect, identified as Chibunna James, was apprehended while in the process of loading the adulterated water for distribution. However, the mastermind behind the operation remains at large.

The confiscated products were promptly evacuated to the NAFDAC office for further investigation and analysis.

Cyril Monye, NAFDAC’s Public Relations Officer for Rivers State, disclosed that the scheme of the perpetrators involved repackaging contaminated water in used Eva bottles, employing makeshift filters made from unsanitary materials, and applying fake labels and corks to deceive consumers.

While efforts are underway to locate and apprehend the ringleader of the syndicate, NAFDAC urges the public to provide any relevant information that could aid in their apprehension.

Furthermore, Monye revealed that thirty packs of the counterfeit products were confiscated and transported to the NAFDAC office in Port Harcourt for thorough investigation. To prevent the circulation of the counterfeit water, the uncorked bottles were emptied and disposed of.

NAFDAC busts fake Eva water factory, arrests suspect

Continue Reading

Trending

Skip to content