As the nationwide fuel scarcity continue to hit Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari reacted yesterday on the persistence of excruciating fuel scarcity. The President expressed sympathy with Nigerians who are enduring weeks of queues at filling stations. In a statement personally signed by him and posted on his twitter handle, @Mbuhari #FuelScarcity, he said the development was regrettable.
“I am being regularly briefed, especially on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC’s) interventions to ensure that there is enough petrol available during this period and beyond. The fuel scarcity being experienced nationwide is regrettable. I sympathize with all Nigerians on having to endure needless fuel queues,” he said.
The president said he had the NNPC’s assurance that the situation would improve significantly over the next few days, “as new shipments and supplies are distributed across the country.“I have also directed the regulators to step up their surveillance and bring an end to hoarding and price inflation by marketers.
“Let me also assure that the relevant agencies will continue to provide updates on the situation. I thank you all for your patience and understanding.”
Struck by the pains following the fuel scarcity, Nigerians have taken to the social media to call on President Buhari, who is also the Minister of Petroleum, to address the issue.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Buhari yesterday came under attack from the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose.In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP said the nation’s economic hardship was largely caused by “sheer incompetence, gross insensitivity and shambolic policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.”
The PDP said it was disheartening that Nigerians could not merrily celebrate the yuletide due to the biting economic hardship worsened by an acute fuel shortage.It described the nation’s economic situation as a national embarrassment, which “cannot be glossed over with deceit, lies and propaganda.”
Meanwhile, the assurances by President Muhammadu Buhari of government strident efforts to end the ongoing fuel scarcity has been welcomed by quite a number of people who reacted on the President’s twitter handle. It would be recalled that Vice President Yomi Osinbajo, had also assured Nigerians that government is putting all hands on deck to bring an end to the ongoing fuel scarcity. An assessment of the fuel situation carried out by vigil360 indicate that fuel queues still pervades virtuallyin all the major cities of the country including Abuja and Lagos.
