NLC blames fuel scarcity on marketers

The Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) in Adamawa, on Thursday, accused oil traders of accumulating petroleum products, causing an artificial shortage of products in Yola, Adamawa State.

Emanue Fwashe, chairman of the NLC, told reporters after a joint monitoring exercise at fuel dispensing stations in Yola that traders were responsible for the state’s fuel shortage.

Mr Fwashe said the monitoring exercise was in collaboration with the Nigerian Intermediate and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.

He said the union noted with concern the reappearance of queues at gas stations in Yola without justifiable reasons.

“After careful investigation, we discovered that it is only in Adamawa and Yola in particular that people experience an artificial fuel shortage.

“We complained to the competent authority and they invited us to join them for the routine check of gas stations.

“During the inspection, we discover that some unpatriotic traders are accumulating petroleum products in anticipation of an increase in the price at the pump. This causes the scarcity of the product, ”he said.

He alleged that some of the traders were hoarding the product to exploit consumers.

“The joint monitoring exercise is showing results, the failing stations are urged to open and distribute the product to consumers,” he said.

Also speaking, Sadiq Ibrahim, the NMDPRA field operations controller in charge of Adamawa and Taraba, said the authority had ordered gas stations to distribute fuel to motorists, warning violators would be sanctioned.

Ibrahim said the authority would step up surveillance and inspection activities to guard against diversion and scarcity of products in its area of ​​operation.

“We questioned two service stations for operational fault and storage of thousands of litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called gasoline.

“Our operation is to ensure product availability, we will expand our business to pump measurement to remedy the problem,” he said.