FEC tasks petroleum minister to resolve fuel queues this week

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has mandated the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, to end the fuel queues across the country by this weekend.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gave the directive at the FEC meeting on Wednesday which he presided in the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari who is on a working visit Kano.

Fuel queues have since Monday surfaced across the country with the NNPC blaming it on panic buying.

The Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, briefed State House correspondents on the resolution after a meeting of the council which held inside the council chamber of the presidential villa Abuja.

Mohammed said Kachikwu was supposed to be the one to brief Nigerians on the matter, but that he had “to attend a very important meeting so that this crisis would be resolved.”

Mohammed said part of the reason for the scarcity was because it was only the NNPC that has been importing petrol.

He said Kachikwu assured that the problem will be resolved and that “there is no cause for alarm.”

“The council gave him a matching order that this fuel scarcity should not last beyond this weekend and they are going to work very hard to ensure that it is curtailed”.

The minister also dispelled rumours that the government was planning to increase the price of petrol.“The government has no intention at all to increase the pump price of PMS,” he said.

He also said Kachikwu had, while briefing the council, assured that the country has “enough products till next one month or even till the end of January.”

Giving reasons for the sudden scarcity, Mohammed said it was due to the current cold weather that has necessitated more buying.

“There is always more demand for refined products for petroleum during winter period in the colder countries, this is what we are experiencing now,” he said.