NNPC assures INEC of petrol supply during elections

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited on Tuesday assured the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of adequate petroleum supply for election logistics.

The NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, gave the assurance when a team, led by the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, visited the NNPC towers in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr Yakubu met with the officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to look into mitigating the effects of petrol scarcity for the transportation of electoral materials and officials on election day.

He noted that the shortage of petroleum products being experienced across the country could affect logistic operations on election day.

Speaking during the visitation, Mr Kyari said: “We know that logistics is a major component of electoral duties. NNPC has always supported the INEC, not in this direct form, in making sure that fuel is made available to all vehicles that are involved in the electoral process.

“Needless to say that there was no formal framework for that, and there were no even exact formal requests for this. All the same, we are always conscious of the necessity to provide support to INEC whenever elections take place.”

He said the visit was a challenge to the oil firm to ensure that there is stable political system in the country.

“Having said this, we are the largest downstream company in the country today. Six months ago, it was not so, but today we have acquired huge assets since our incorporation into a limited liability company and we have spread across the country,” he said.

“That is not to say that we are in every city and every town, it is possible that there may be some locations where we may not be present.

“We will work with your logistics team to identify those areas where we may not have a presence so that we can bring in other marketing companies into the conversation so that the products are made available to all the 100,000 vehicles that you have indicated.

“There will be no difficulty doing this, we have a presence, we are everywhere. But where we are not, we will provide commercial conversation between the commission and other marketing companies so that when you need this product, you will have it.”

Scarcity

In recent months, Nigerian motorists and household users have had a tough time getting petroleum products at filling stations across the country.

The scarcity has persisted despite the government’s repeated claims it had enough petroleum products in stock.

Last Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the constitution of a 14-member steering committee to address the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.

On Friday, the NMDPRA attributed the lingering fuel scarcity in the country to a disruption in the product distribution chain caused by the activities of cross-border smugglers.

However, the agency claimed that there is petrol sufficiency of over 1.6 billion litres as of 26 January both on land and marine.

Despite the government’s position, PREMIUM TIMES’ found that Nigerians have continued to suffer from scarcity of petrol across the country.

A PREMIUM TIMES report last Tuesday detailed how Nigerians have continued to lament the hardship caused by the scarcity of petroleum products across the country as businesses and households that depend on generators for power supply groan in darkness.

Assurance

Speaking on Tuesday, the NNPCL boss noted that the oil firm is the only company that has floating mega stations in the country, adding that it will leverage on this to facilitate marine operations in the riverine areas of the country.

“I assure you just as you have indicated, we have taken very extreme measures to see that we can contain the current distribution challenges that we have and will believe that within the next one week, there will be significant relief if not the elimination of the current situation that we are facing,” he said.

Speaking earlier, Mr Yakubu urged the NNPC to make a special arrangement with other marketers in locations where the NNPC may not have dedicated stations for petrol supply.

“We are determined to overcome the perennial challenge of late commencement of polls on grounds of logistics.

“However, this objective cannot be fully accomplished without the guaranteed supply of petroleum products to facilitate the movement of vehicles and boats,” he said.

The INEC boss said in their effort to mobilise every national institution to give Nigerians a pleasant experience on Election Day, the commission believes that the NNPC, as a national oil company, is one of the critical institutions that can facilitate the attainment of its objectives.

“We are aware of the efforts of the NNPC to ease the current situation in earnest. At the same time, we would like to appeal to you to consider the following proposals.

“The use of the NNPC land and floating mega stations nationwide to service our election duty vehicles and boats. We will bear the cost of the products. By doing so, there will be a guaranteed supply for elections.

“A special arrangement with other marketers in locations where the NNPC may not have dedicated stations and consider other options to support our seamless operations on Election Day,” he said.