National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Zone B, has told
President Muhammadu Buhari to disengage himself from the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources as Minister.
This is contained in a statement by zonal coordinator, Comrade Pedro Obi.
NANS noted that “Buhari’s pseudo heading of the Petroleum Ministry has
presented an uncertainty in the petroleum industry, and we therefore
call for a substantive Petroleum Minister.”
“Nigerians have been made to pass through untold hardship for a fault
of not theirs, with conflicting and counter directives emanating from
the top hierarchy of the petroleum industry.
“Blaming filling stations/petroleum marketers is way being ignorant
of realities, as our team of petroleum monitoring task force, has found
out that Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, is being sold at high rate in depot
and you can never expect somebody to sell less than his/her cost price.
“Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR sealing of filling stations
is sheer hypocrisy, as to us, if they are serious about controlling the
price of the product, they should go to the petroleum depots where these
private filling station owners lift product.
“Nigerians have been deceived, stolen dry and the various promises of
reform in the industry have turned into a mirage as a result of
nepotism occasioned by an incompetent manning of the industry.
“The Minister of State for Petroleum Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu, has not been given free hand to carry out his laudable plans
for the sector. It is on this note, we call for the upgrade of Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu as the substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources.
“At this point of our nationhood, if truly Buhari means well for the
suffering Nigerian masses, this is surely the irreducible minimum
demand, President Buhari can give to Nigerians, if he actually means
well for us.”
Meanwhile, Senate has appealed to Nigerians over the fuel scarcity
and reiterated that it would convene an emergency public hearing on
January 4, 2018.