Hope that the queues at fuel stations across the country would ease-off soon appeared in the horizon on Wednesday with the commencement of daily production of 3.2 million litres of petrol by the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, KRPC.
A statement by the NNPC confirmed that the plant which commenced production over the weekend with an initial PMS yield of about 1.5 million litres has ramped up its daily yield to 3.2 million litres.
“The injection of this volume into the system will significantly impact ongoing special intervention efforts designed to bring relief to motorists across the country,” the Corporation stated.
Meanwhile, less than 48 hours after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, ordered staff of the NNPC to intervene in the monitoring of fuel distribution and retail system at filling stations across the country, the initiative has started yielding positive results in Abuja and environs.
The situation at most filling stations visited in Abuja remains calm and orderly as the staff of the Corporation helped to fast-track the process of dispensing fuel to motorists in the Federal Capital Territory.
Speaking shortly after visiting some retail outlets within Abuja’s Central Area, the Group Executive Director, Commercial & Investment of the NNPC, Dr. Babatunde Victor Adeniran said so far, the exercise has recorded some success.
“Our staff are putting in all their best to ensure that orderliness is restored in most of the filling stations. They are also there to ensure that nobody creates a situation that will hamper the discharge of products to ordinary Nigerians. So far, they are doing well in this regard,” Dr. Adeniran stated.
He explained that the exercise was a hands-on approach designed to ensure that Nigerians do not suffer unnecessarily at the hands of unscrupulous marketers, adding that the situation would be improved upon.
He also called on security agencies to complement the efforts of NNPC at the filling stations. “At one of the filling stations in Asokoro today, the police came to assist us to clear out some motorists trying to jump the queue. That is most commendable”.
Dr. Adeniran further urged Nigerians to cooperate with the NNPC and ensure the success of the initiative by being law-abiding and orderly to avoid chaotic situations at the filling stations.
“I hope Nigerians can have the spirit of orderliness, the spirit of cohesion and the spirit of responsibility in order to help this process,” he observed.
It would be recalled that on Monday while addressing an emergency meeting of senior staff of the corporation at the NNPC Towers, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources ordered the deployment of NNPC staff to filling stations across the country for effective monitoring of the distribution system.
Dr. Kachikwu assured that there was sufficient petrol for Nigerians and again appealed to motorists to desist from panic purchases and warned that unscrupulous marketers who either hoard or divert products would henceforth be treated as economic saboteurs.
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