Date Published: 02/11/10

10th February 2010.  

Press Release.  

Lagos AC Laments Diversion of Petroleum Products From Lagos.  

The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress has lamented that there is a ploy to ensure that Lagos does not experience a stable fuel regime again. The party alleged that this ploy is in tandem with the plan to increase fuel prices under the guise of deregulations and challenged the federal government, the NNPC and the PPPMC to arrest this ugly trend to prevent angry reactions from restive Lagosians.  

In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the AC, Joe Igbokwe, the party said that there is a ploy to divert fuel allocations for Lagos to other states and sell at higher prices to consumers in these states. It alleges that this notorious practice is with the connivance of officials of the relevant agencies and warns that Lagos would be forced to react if this ugly trend is allowed to continue.  

“Ever since the country woke to the reality of the present induced petroleum crisis, we notice that Lagos State has been subjected to persistent fuel scarcity and we are being made to live with it. We notice that fuel sells as high as N90 in many private fuelling stations while the major marketers are always short of fuel. We see this as a deliberate ploy to ensure that Lagos will never have adequate fuels supply and we accuse the NNPC and the PPPMC of being in full knowledge of this fraudulent practice.  

“Lagos AC wants to alert the authorities that fuel meant for Lagos are being sold at higher prices to neighbouring states while Lagos continues to experience supply shortfall from this deliberate act of sabotage. We want to let them know that Lagosians are going through untold sufferings as a result of this artificial shortage and that they may be forced to react if nothing is done to arrest the situation and restore normalcy in fuel supply in Lagos.  

“Equally, we note that the economic well being of Lagos is adversely affected by the present artificial fuel scarcity and we fear the negative effects of the present scarcity, which seemingly has no end in sight. We believe that the present situation could be solved by stricter monitoring to ensure fuel meant for Lagos is not diverted for higher prices to other states.  

“We call on the Lagos State government to set up an independent task force to monitor this development and ensure that major marketers do not divert their wares to other states while subjecting Lagosians to needless torture, as we had been experiencing in the past three months. We want the Fashola government to take the present fuel scarcity as a challenge and devise a pro-active means of protecting Lagosians from the greed of fuel marketers and their collaborators in the petroleum industry.  

“Lagos AC wants to serve notice to the authorities that the present fuel crisis will not temper our opposition to deregulation, just as a means of subjecting Nigerians to heartless extortion as we call for the full and urgent repair of the nation’s refineries. We demand a cessation of present torture of artificial fuel scarcity and insist that all hands must be on deck to ensure it does not go further to inflict pains on Lagosians and indeed all Nigerians.”  

Joe Igbokwe.  

Publicity Secretary,  

Lagos AC