Barely two weeks to the general elections in the country, different transport groups, on Monday, threatened to occupy the headquarters of the Nigeria National Petroleum Limited (NNPCL) over the lingering fuel scarcity and the high cost of the product at filling stations.
In a communique issued in Abuja after a one-day meeting of various associations, the groups condemned persistent fuel and gasoline scarcity for months now without an end in sight.
The groups, which identified themselves as the Commercial Motorcycles Association of Nigeria, (COMAN), Tricycles Owners Association of Nigeria (TOWAN), National Association of Traders of Nigeria, (NASTAN), Luxurious Bus Operators Union (LUBOU), Market Women Association of Nigeria (MAWAN) and Trailer Drivers Association of Nigeria (TADAN) said, their members can no longer cope with hardship.
The communique jointly signed by Chief Boniface Ogwu Ikedi, Dr Basil Ahoade Ekanem and four others, urged the Federal government to rise to the occasion before the general election as they are poised to stop their members from INEC’s logistics arrangements.
Part of the communique read: “A three-day warning of civil strike action is issued to the Federal Government to quickly fix anomalies in the oil and gas sector leading to hardship across the country.
“The association has issued a red alert to its numerous members across the six geopolitical zones to occupy the Nigeria National Petroleum Limited, NNPL headquarters located in the Central Business District, Abuja.”
“It’s also inconceivable that fuel is sold at licensed and government-recognised filling stations for N350 to N400 per litre across the six geopolitical zones, which has forced the majority of the members to abandon their buses, motorcycles and the rest.”
They advised President Muhammadu Buhari to remove the NNPL GMD, Mele Abba Kyari and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipreye Sylva from office as a solution to the fuel confusion in the country.
The groups also condemned the Naira scarcity and the apparent failure of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) currency swap policy, which has also brought untold hardship on Nigerians.