We’ll end kerosene scarcity in 10 days –NNPC, marketers

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, on Tuesday, promised to end the scarcity of household kerosene across the nation within 10 days.

Speaking at a press conference after a closed door meeting with members of the association at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mr. Austen Oniwon, said that concrete steps had been taken to end the scarcity.

The current scarcity of kerosene has seen the product being sold for about N200 per litre in most places where it is available as against the regulated price of N50 per litre.

Oniwon said that all the principal stakeholders had undertaken to ensure that the product was available at the controlled filing stations of some major marketers, such as Oando, Mobil, Conoil, Total, AP and MRS, including all NNPC retail stations nationwide.

“The summary of what we are here to do today is to reassure Nigerians that the principal stakeholders have given an undertaking that, within the next 10 days, household kerosene will be available in all major marketers’ retail outlets in addition to all NNPC mega stations nationwide,” Oniwon said.

The NNPC helmsman, who gave the assurance that the corporation had enough stock of kerosene to last for 40 days outside of what was being produced by the refineries, also disclosed that plans were in place to reach out to other stakeholders in the downstream sector to ensure that normalcy was restored to the kerosene supply and distribution network in the country.

Explaining why the NNPC affiliate stations were not included in the new distribution arrangement, the GMD said most of them had been found not to be operating to the standard required by the corporation.

He added that, very soon; the substandard ones would be weeded out and stopped from wearing NNPC colours and logo.

Oniwon said that in the days ahead, the corporation would hold similar meetings with members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria to obtain a similar commitment.

The Executive Secretary, MOMAN, Mr. Femi Olawore, who spoke on behalf of the association, pledged the commitment of members to working towards the achievement of the 10-day undertaken.

“We have been given the assurance that we will get the product in large quantity. We give ourselves 10 days, with the product coming in. We will like to assure you that we will start immediately and we shall all see the effect of pumping the product into our retail network and to the consumers. We want to say that we have done it before and we are ready to do it again,” Olawore said.