Fuel scarcity: – Arewa youths give FG 5-day ultimatum to sack, probe Sylva, Kyari, Farouk
By Idibia Gabriel
The Amalgamation of Arewa Youth Groups (AAYG), an Umbrella body of 225 active Socio-cultural and Socio-religious associations in northern Nigeria, has given the Federal Government five days ultimatum to sack Chief Timipre Sylva, the Minister of state for Petroleum, Mr Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC Limited and Mr Farouk Ahmed, the Managing Director of Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
AAYG described the trio as saboteurs who have betrayed the trust of Mr President and quest to leave a legacy of easy access to petroleum products without queues.
At a press conference addressed by AAYG Secretary, Comrade Abubakar Musa Ardo and spokesman, Comrade Victor Duniya, the body averred that Nigerians are currently passing through excruciating pains due to fuel scarcity, lamenting that the situation has remained the same in the significant part of 2022, with no end at sight.
“Where you manage to see little of it, it sells between 250-300 Naira, in a broad day light without fear of government regulatory agencies”, they said.
The group called on Mr President to wild the big stick on the trio of Mr Timipre Sylva, State Minister of Petroleum; Mele Kyari GMD, NNPC LTD and Farouk Ahmed, MD NMDPRA for clear act of sabotage and an attempt to pitch Nigerians against him.
The Group said: “Call on the National Assembly to urgently probe the subsidy regime and compare notes with previous years to dictate the rigged figure by both the NNPC and NMDPRA, and ensure that all those concerns are punished.
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“Call on anti -graft agencies to probe the activities of the staff of NMDPRA for possible collusion with Independent Petroleum Marketers to financially rape the Federal Government and Nigerians, as PMS now sell far above the National Bench mark.
“We recognize that both Mele Kyari and Mr Farouk Ahmed are all from our region, their is no gainsaying that they have failed woefully in their responsibilities, we strongly support change in guards in their offices as they appeared to have run out of ideas on how to end the lingering energy crisis in the country.
“If our demands are not met in the next five working days, we shall organize our members from town villages to occupy all NNPC zonal offices and its subsidiaries across our region and the FCT until we see changes, DailyTimes gathered.
“This is not just a mere threat. We will follow up with full action after the expiration of our ultimatum and this will serve as a litmus test on the part of the Government on their fight against corruption and indiscipline”.
Furthermore, the Group said: “As critical stakeholders in the Nigeria building project, we can’t continue to fold our hands and allow things degenerate to point of no return. There is no justification for this scarcity amidst abundant blessings of crude oil in most parts of country that are both tapped and untapped.
“During the previous scarcity in the early part of this year, both the NNPC and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) accused some major importers of importing high Metabolic contaminated Premium Motor Spirits, with the promise of bringing the said companies to justice.
“Till date, nobody has been punished for inflicting pains on Nigerians.
“We acknowledged the concerted efforts of our father, President Muhammadu Buhari who has been doing much to leave a lasting legacy as his tenure come to an end next year.
“However, we adjudged the trios of Chief Timipre Sylva, the Minister for Petroleum, whom Mr President trusted with the powers of his office as Senior Minister of Petroleum; Mr Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of NNPC Limited and Mr Farouk Ahmed, the Managing Director of Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority as saboteurs who have betrayed the trust of Mr President and quest to leave a legacy of easy access to petroleum products without queues.
“While Mr Farouk and his boys are sleeping or in active, Independent Petroleum marketers are selling PMS in most Northern states as high as N250. This is against the National benchmark and highly subsidized rate of N165.
“One the consequences of inadequate supply of the Petroleum products in our region is the renewed killings by terrorists as security agencies are equally struggling to access the product in most rural communities that are soft target for criminal elements, therefore they are largely immobilize to respond to distress calls”.
