December 29, 2017
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), an NGO, on Friday urged the Federal Government to expose and punish those responsible for the current fuel crisis in the country.
The Executive Chairman of the group, Mr Debo Adeniran, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said the unscrupulous activities of those he called saboteurs had brought untold hardship to the people owing to the crisis.
Adeniran urged the government to deal decisively with those diverting or hoarding petroleum products to serve as deterrent and solve the problem once and for all.
“It is no more news that the fuel crisis in the country is caused by corruption, though it may not be financial corruption but an administrative one.
“Some people, for their selfish interests, hoard or divert petroleum products to create artificial scarcity to cause crisis and make the government unpopular.
“These are people I call saboteurs. The government should as a matter of urgency expose these people not only to serve as deterrent but to end the problem once and for all,” he said.
Adeniran also advised the government to be proactive and always take drastic steps to outsmart the saboteurs especially around yuletide periods.
He urged the government to ensure regulating agencies in the oil industry were always alive to their responsibilities to avoid a repeat of the problem.
Adeniran said it was an irony that a major petroleum producer like Nigeria would heavily rely on imported refined products to meet domestic needs.
He described the situation as dangerous, saying it can make the country vulnerable to external sabotage.
Adeniran therefore urged the government to assiduously work for self-reliance on petroleum refining to reduce importation and all the problems associated with it.
