Arewa youths warn against political conspiracy on fuel scarcity

AREWA Youths Assembly (AYA) has called on Nigerians to shun political conspiracy on fuel scarcity and join the Federal Government in its efforts to remedy the situation.

Speaker for AYA, Mohammed Danlami, noted, yesterday, that every Nigerian had a part to play, by resisting fuel racketeering, panic buying and engaging in acts inimical to economic and security interest of the nation.

He said: “While we stand by our fellow citizens in this trying moment, it is important that no group or individual takes advantage of the situation for political gain and personal aggrandisement. At a time such as this, Nigerians should come together to remedy the situation.”

He said the government, through the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), had demonstrated transparency and promoted accountability.

To underscore the seriousness of the situation, Danlami added that the NNPC and other relevant agencies embarked on Petrol Distribution Surveillance (PDS) to ensure seamless evacuation of products from mother vessels to depots and trucking from depots to other inland depots as well as retail stations.

The group said it was aware of the present, daily monitoring of trucks from depots to all 36 states of the country with focus on demand and existing stock available in the retail stations in these states.

“The task is being complemented by the deployment of personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) to effectively monitor truck out and prevent any diversion of products along the way.

“Sadly, the reverse seems to be the case in Nigeria when the main opposition political party wishes to harvest from the common suffering of Nigerians through baseless conspiracy theories and underhand tactics that the present situation is to force Nigerians to accept a new price hike,” they stated.

AYA, however, said in as much as it does not support ideas in fuel price, it must be noted that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused rise in oil prices, which will lead to hike in price of refined Petroleum products.