Akwa Ibom State Governor Deacon Udom Emmanuel has responded to rising issues in the state as regards to the fuel scarcity which struck the state and other parts of Nigeria as well as other trivial issues in the state.
Mr Udom Emmanuel addressed the issues while giving a speech this morning at a prayer meeting session which took place at the state government house Latter Day Chapel.
speaking on the issue of fuel scarcity the state governor had this to say
“I appeal to the federal government, the solution is simple; empower Akwa Ibom and we’ll give fuel to Nigeria”
He went on further to explain how the prevailing issue of lack of foreign exchange has affected the the marketers of petroleum products.
“
… in Nigeria, there’s serious scarcity of foreign exchange, banks do not have foreign exchange to give to importers of fuel, so even when they pay subsidy, you’ll have the Naira but you need the dollars to use and import petroleum products and banks are not giving them because there’s no foreign exchange.”
he said.
He also advised the country to encourage local refineries while mentioning that about 3 investors from the United States were interested in developing local refineries to better standards in Akwa Ibom State.
In other news, the Governor mentioned his administration’s plan to build a Jetty in Ikot Abasi to compliment the Ibaka Deep Sea Port when completed. He pointed out that it was appalling that the state which boasts of the longest coastline in the sub-region does not have a Jetty.
The governor also spoke on the reason why some parts of the state experience power outage for as long as four days stating that it was due to the fact that there is a lot of renewal projects going on in the sector such as building of new injection stations in some areas and that in other areas there was a need for complete overhauling of power cables as the ones present were mostly dilapidated.
The governor also advised detractors to desist from lies and all forms of calumny while encouraging the state to be steadfast and have faith in his administration.
He also reaffirmed his resolution to remain focused and that he will always put matters affecting the general well-being of the state first.