Alhassan Doguwa, the member representing Tudun Wada/Doguwa Federal Constituency, Kano State, in the House of Representatives, has urged the federal government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to take urgent steps to revert to the old pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol.
This is contained in a statement the lawmaker issued to newsmen in Kano on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, fuel scarcity took a turn for the worse as long queues hit significant cities even as black marketers took advantage of the opportunity to sell the product at N1,500 per litre. In Abuja, the nation’s capital and Lagos, the product sells for N880 at the NNPCL mega filling stations, while independent marketers sell between N950 and N970 per litre.
In the statement, Doguwa, who chairs the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), described a situation where private companies take advantage of gaps in the system to make arbitrary profits at the expense of Nigerians as unacceptable.
“As a committee, we urge the Nigerian government and, of course, the NNPCL to consider the plight of Nigerians and suspend this recent increase in pump price. Nigerians are going through a lot today, and adding to this burden is not in our collective best interest. Let us revert to the old pump price as soon as possible and probably intensify engagements with major stakeholders to address the problem,” part of the statement reads.
Doguwa, who also serves as Chairman of the Special Committee on Crude Oil Theft and Vandalisation of Pipelines, pledged readiness to tackle the challenge caused by the government’s revenue loss due to crude oil theft.
“As a special committee, we will aggressively seek modalities to interface with the youths and community leaders in the oil-producing areas to address the frequent cases of crude oil theft, which is one of the reasons capable of affecting petrol supply across the country.
“We are working in collaboration with security agencies in their quest to secure oil pipelines and other critical facilities in the country. We believe that returning to the old pump price will calm frayed nerves, thus enabling Nigerians to go about their daily activities easily,” he noted.
The lawmaker also advised Nigerians to give the President Tinubu-led government a chance to reposition the oil and gas sector, noting that with the Petroleum Industry Act coupled with the effort to revive the nation’s refineries, Nigeria would soon reap the benefits of her oil and gas endowments for the benefit of the entire citizenry.
“We believe that with the interventions the government is making to commence operations at Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, these challenges will end,” Doguwa added.
According to the All Progressives Congress chieftain, the challenges in the nation’s oil and gas sector are mainly due to the failure of successive administrations to muster the courage to do the right thing, adding that the APC-led government is bent on making the country take her rightful place in the comity of nations.
“We may be suffering today, but tomorrow will be better. The government of the day is taking significant steps that may be painful today, but very soon, we will beat our chests as proud Nigerians because the future is great. Tinubu means well for us, and he is desirous of leaving a legacy that future generations will be proud of,” he stressed.