KEROSENE SCARCITY HAS ENDED

THE efforts to ensure that scarcity of kerosene becomes a thing of the past, the NNPC said it is releasing 3,000 metric tonnes of kerosene into the market.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos, on Thursday, the Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Dr Levi Ajuonuma, said the corporation had released about 33 million litres of kerosene into the market, through the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN).

According to him, “what we are doing with MOMAN will be on a long term basis. We are going to sustain this meeting with the marketers. As soon as this supply is exhausted, we will give them another. This supply is expected to last for about 40 days.”

He said it took the corporation by surprise that kerosene suddenly became unreachable to the masses.
“Remember, kerosene has never been an issue before, but we were surprised about what really happened. After investigations, we realised that it was distribution challenges and we said there is no need to apportion blame to anybody but rather provide the solution.

“We hope with this huge supply into the market, every other person will be forced to bring down the price,” the NNPC boss said.

The national chairman of MOMAN, Mr Femi Olawore, has confirmed the reception of a vessel loaded with the 3,000MT of kerosene, which was about to be discharged at press time.

He, however, urged the NNPC to honour its agreement by sustaining the partnership.

The national president of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Achese Igwe, also confirmed that Nigerians would soon be relieved, as a result of the availability of the product.

He said his union, in conjunction with other regulators, would monitor the distribution channels and ensure it got to its designated stations.

“Today, 3,000MT of kerosene has been given to major marketers for distribution to various outlets.

“We assure Nigerians that we are going to monitor this issue of distribution because it is the key issue.

“We believe that the major marketers will not default, but if they do, we will embark on strike against such marketers,” he said.