NNPC Blames Fuel Scarcity on Vandals & Corrupt Oil Marketers

As the nation continues to grapple with fuel scarcity, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has attempted to explain why the situation persists.

According to Vanguard, Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, stated:

• Nigeria has lost a total of 531 million litres of petrol valued at over N50 billion to pipeline vandals between January and September, 2015, at the problematic System 2B Pipeline network which stretches from the Atlas Cove in Lagos to Ilorin
• The losses, which chiefly accrued from the incessant hacking of the pipeline at the notorious Arepo to Mosimi axis of the pipeline artery, have made the task of providing seamless flow of petroleum products to retail outlets more burdensome
• Despite the challenge posed by the unavailability of the vital System 2B Pipeline network, the PPMC has continued to ensure that the country remains wet with petrol through massive truck-out from depots in Lagos, Oghara and recently Calabar
• The spirited efforts made so far by the corporation to entrench zero fuel queues across the country are being hampered by the activities of some unscrupulous marketers involved in hoarding, sharp practices and diversion of petroleum products for sale in black markets across the country
• DSS and the EFCC to have been instructed to “take action” to salvage the situation