Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu’s claims of fuel diversion have been slammed by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers on Tuesday describing it as a cover-up for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s inefficiency in providing adequate supply.
Dr. Ibe Kachikwu had yesterday stated that part of the reason for the fuel scarcity was the diversion of fuel trucks to other countries like Chad and Cameroon and that the NNPC didn’t have any way to track the trucks.
According to news agency the Punch, The Chairman, NUPENG, Lagos Zone, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, said reacting to the allegation “I don’t believe that that statement is correct. He (Kachikwu) is only trying to look for a cover-up for the inefficiency on the part of the NNPC. If you say somebody is diverting and it is so clear to you as a minister, what have you done to prevent a recurrence and who are those responsible for the diversion? Is it the drivers, the marketers or the transporters?
“If at all there is diversion, as alleged, what is the function of our law enforcement agents? What are they doing? Are they compromised? He is a government official and he should always be mindful of his statements. This is the man that has given series of reasons for the lingering fuel scarcity.”
Korodo is of the opinion that the cause of the scarcity is inadequate supply of the product. He also spoke on the claim by the Minister of state for Petroleum about the government placing trackers in each truck saying that over 80% of tankers in Nigeria have tracking devices installed by the transporters.