Following the lingering fuel scarcity in the country, the Director
General of the State Security Service (SSS) Thursday summoned the
Managing Director, Pipeline, Product Marketing Company (PPMC) Prince
Haruna Momoh and the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and
Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) with a viewing to resolving the
leadership crisis in Independent Marketers Association Nigeria
(IPMAN), it was learnt Friday.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the NUPENG President, Comrade Igwe
Achise, said that due to the SSS intervention, there is a high hope of
resolving the crisis between now and Tuesday.
He confirmed that “after the intervention of the MD of PPMC, the
Directorate of Security Service (DSS)- DG SSS and we have been able to
look at these issues critically again, where we have been assured that
the lingering crisis in IPMAN will be given the utmost emergency
attention needed to resolve those leadership issues as soon as
possible and we are believing that between now, Monday, Tuesday, this
issue of the leadership will be resolved.
“We have also read through the media that Aminu the former president
has finally moved out of office and decided to go and form an
association that does not have bearing with the judgement given by
competent court of jurisdiction.”
He explained that the crisis in IPMAN was due to the movement by the
outgoing President Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadir to continue staying in
office despite a court judgement that has pronounced the emergence of
his successor.
According to him, the union withdrew its services from the Nigeria
Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) because its owners Independent
IPMAN were involved in fraudulent demand for fuel subsidy claim.
He noted that: “If that crisis persists, there is no need we keep our
services in NIPCO since IPMAN is the major owner of the investment of
the commercial out fit. I think that will be a big way of addressing
these challenges.”
Asked whether NUPENG cannot sanction IPMAN for the allegedly insisting
on collecting fuel subsidy money without supply, Achise said :”NIPCO
example is part of those sanctions we can take in withdrawing our
services from the depot if found that they are having some fraudulent
activities at the ongoing in their environment . The allegation is
true.”
Commenting on why it is scarce, the NUPENG boss explained that in as
much as petroleum products are imported, products are bound to be
scarce.
He revealed that since the refineries are not functioning, the the
nation is at the mercy of the marketers, who also own the private
depots to whom the Federal Government has assigned to import petroleum
products.
His words: “Petroleum products are scarce because Nigeria is still
depending majorly on importation of petroleum products. And that
importation is mortgaged into the hands of marketers, who are also
private depot owners and importers. Our refineries are not
functioning. They are epileptic in production and that cannot sustain
this country. And that is why we find ourselves were we are today in
term of the scarcity.”
Asked whether deregulation of the refineries is not the best option,
Achise said that to deregulate the downstream of the oil and gas
sector is a must.
He however added a caveat, that the Federal Government would not be
fair to the citizenry to deregulate the sector with reliance on fuel
importation.
According to him, “what is affecting our refineries today is because
of the system that is surrounding the refinery operations.”
Continuing, he said “we need to do a turnaround maintenance of the
refineries for us to make it work effectively. The Port-Harcourt
Refineries we agreed on this last year with the Ministry of Petroleum.
It failed. The next one, he said by first quarter of next year picked
up. First quarter has gone and it has gone. So, must we continue to
remain in this kind of shadow?”
