Youth Arise for Undiluted Leadership and Development Initiative – a non-profit organization comprising of detribalized, unbiased and patriotic Nigerian Youth from all spheres of life and Geopolitical zones of the country has called on Federal Government to work out modalities towards solving the perennial fuel scarcity as well as other challenges facing the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria.
The youth group made this known at a Press Conference in Abuja on Thursday.
According to the Spokesperson for the Group: “this Press Conference was triggered by the unending fuel scarcity, whose immediate origin could be traced to the importation of contaminated petroleum products by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“The Nigerian public have since been subjected to untoward misery and agony, as the queues become longer and the scarcity more protracted.
He added that: “under the Petroleum Industry Act, the NNPC, led by Mr. Mele Kyari, is the sole importer of Petroleum Products into Nigeria, whether it chooses to do it directly or subcontract multiple organizations to do so. That fact must be laid bare.
“If NNPC chooses the latter, its direct or indirect culpability for the violation of any laws under the Nigeria state or infringement of the rights of Nigerians, in the process of fulfilling that statutory function, remain unquestionable.
The Group raised several questions which Federal Government and other relevant authorities must provide answers to regarding the contaminated petroleum products that were imported into Nigeria, under the crude-swap arrangement coordinated by the NNPC; which are:
- Whose responsibility is it to ensure that Nigeria does not get the short end of the stick in these transactions?
- Who has the legal role as guarantor of Nigeria’s energy security?
- Who identified the source of the supply?
- Who approved the trade?
- Which organization conducted the trade on behalf of the NNPC?
- What volume of products were involved and at what cost?
- Which agencies of Government are statutorily obligated to ensure that the best standards of products come into Nigeria?
- What role did the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) played in the process? Which organization is responsible for testing for the acceptable level of the different components of petroleum supplies?
- What role did the Midstream and Downstream regulator amongst others.
Nevertheless, the group is currently demanding that the President Muhammadu Buhari steps in now and replace the heads of the NMDPRA and the NNPC.
“President should also set up an Independent Panel of Inquiry into the circumstances that surrounded the importation of the contaminated petroleum products into the country by the NNPC and its contractors.” said the Spokesperson.