Nigerians suffering under petrol scarcity, do something urgently, NNPP chieftain, Ajadi tells FG

By Stephen Gbadamosi

A chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, has called on the Federal Government to do something urgently to ease the current hardship occasioned by non-availability of petroleum products in the filling stations across the country.

Ajadi, in a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists on Sunday, said what President Bola Tinubu promised Nigerians when he resumed office last year was that with the removal of subsidy, there won’t be scarcity of fuel.

He said, however, Nigerians had seen that the president had failed to keep to his promise.

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He added that the situation in the country became terrible, because there was absolutely poor electricity supply, with the entire country being in darkness; “and while Nigerians are used to powering their generating sets with diesel and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), the petroleum products are unavailable.”

Ajadi said when Nigerians were complaining about poor power supply nine years ago, during the early days of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu begged Nigerians that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was just assuming office and that epileptic electricity supply would be a thing of the past.

“However, nine years after, with Bola Tinubu as president, the electricity supply is still low or unavailable in many parts the country. To make it worse, people cannot see petroleum products to buy, even when they are ready to cough out their hard-earned money to buy it.

“What this means is that the APC that had been blaming the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the woes of the country has also failed Nigerians after nine years in power.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must, as the Minister of Petroleum, find solution to the current unavailability of fuel in the country. It is sad that we are witnessing scarcity of petroleum now that Nigerians are celebrating little reduction in the prices of foodstuffs.

“The little gain we have recorded will evaporate soon and we will back to square one, due to high cost of transportation as a result of non-availability of petroleum products.

“The president needs to investigate activities of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) and, if possible, sanction whoever caused this current scarcity.

“It is sad that despite the fact that many people are ready to buy at high rate, the fuel is not even available and it has been affecting many things, including transportation of foodstuffs from the rural to urban areas.

“We cannot continue like this as a country; and the president needs to summon courage and find lasting solution to the perennial fuel scarcity in the country,” he said.

Ajadi also called on former presidents and other statesmen in the country to “come out and find solution to the current problem,” as, according to him, the fuel scarcity affected almost every home in the country.

“What is currently happening should be looked at beyond politics. Former presidents and other statesmen should come out to proffer solutions,” Ajadi said.