Coalition of aggrieved Nigerians, yesterday, demanded immediate resignation of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, over damages and hardship inflicted on Nigerians following importation of contaminated premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly known as fuel.
The coalition, comprising Movement for the Survival of Ethnic Nationalities in Niger Delta, Ex-Agitators for Good Governance and Coalition of Civil Society Groups, also called for the resignation of the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari.
The National Coordinator, Niger Delta Youth Council, Jator Abido, who addressed reporters in Abuja, said the economic loss and damage caused by their actions were too grievous to be overlooked as it had also put lives and businesses of Nigerians at risk.
The group vowed to mobilise over 10,000 car owners from the Niger Delta Region, whose cars were damaged by the bad product, to embark on a mass compensation collection at all NNPC outlets and facilities close to them within the Niger Delta region, Abuja and Lagos.
The group noted: “As patriots, we have reviewed the situation and have discovered that certain persons occupying positions of trust and authority in the PMS distribution ecosystem have failed in their responsibilities and duties to Nigerians.
“We cannot sit and continue to watch as Nigerians suffer from the incompetence and ineptitude of certain individuals occupying government offices, who have aided this deliberate acts of sabotage.
“Our meticulous findings have revealed that this unfortunate event portends the ability to cast aspersion on the credibility of President Muhammadu Buhari, who, since assumption of office, has made tremendous efforts to make fuel scarcity a thing of the past in our nation.”
To remedy the hardship and damage suffered by citizens, they called on Nigerians and various groups to prevail on the Federal Government to, as a matter of necessity, take steps to ensure that owners of vehicles and machineries damaged are adequately compensated.
“This should be done in addition to holding those at the helm of affairs responsible, and severely sanctioned for abuse of office, conflict of interest and economic sabotage. This issue has exposed a lot of inadequacies in the petroleum supply chain and everything must be done to ensure that the sector is sanitized,” they added.
