Fuel scarcity: Senate summons Kachikwu; minister gets 72-hour ultimatum to resign

The Senate on Monday summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to appear before its Committee on Petroleum Downstream on Tuesday, over lingering fuel scarcity in the country.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Senator Jibrin Barau, told newsmen shortly after an on-the-spot assessment of filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that the summons became necessary, following the hardship on Nigerians.
He decried that in spite of assurances from the ministry that the situation would be brought under control, it had lingered.
“We have invited the minister of state to appear before the committee tomorrow to tell us about the fuel scarcity problem and the strategy he is employing to solve it.
“We will expect him to give a date when the problem will be resolved permanently; this is the course of action we have taken.
“We are not satisfied because this problem has gone unabated for too long; the situation is appalling and it is a major problem.
“We gave the ministry enough time and space to put its act together to solve this problem.’’
Barau assured that the senate would take a position on the matter after hearing from the minister of state, who is also the Group Managing Director, NNPC.
Meanwhile, the Civil Society Coalition for Positive Change and Stand Up for Nigeria (SUN) has issued a 72-hour ultimatum to Kachikwu to resign from office over the prolonged scarcity of fuel which it said has brought Nigerians severe hardship.
The groups stated that the inability of the minister of state to restore normalcy to the current fuel crisis shows his incompetence to manage the situation.
Comrade Venatius Torkuma and Labake Boboye, National President and Executive Director of the groups respectively
in a joint statement issued and made available to journalists described the Minister of State for Petroleum as a failure who has failed to justify his appointment.
It stated that the statement by Kachikwu that he was not trained as a magician is an admittance of his incompetence.
The groups threatened to take to the street on Wednesday in “a mother of all protest” in the nation’s capital to draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the international community should the minister refuse to resign.
The statement said: “Nigerians fought hard to vote in this government of change. But to hear the minister say the kind of things he said is not only insulting to Nigerians but showed his gross incompetence. Nigerians will not tolerate such recklessness. In case the minister needs a reminder, the era of incompetence is long with the previous administration.
“Since he has admitted that he cannot restore normalcy to the current fuel crisis, he should immediately resign his position. indeed Kachikwu was not coerced to take this job. He accepted the job and its responsibilities knowingly. He also must remember that he does not own NNPC. This also is not a private company that owes nothing to the public except the duty of fair dealing. He is a public servant. The seat he sits upon is owned by Nigerians not by him”.
The group said the fuel shortage is severely biting for the average person and to hear the minister make such statement puts the Buhari administration in bad light.