The 8th assembly similarly invited former President
Muhammadu Buhari — who had also retained the petroleum minister designation
during his stint — but he did not honour the invitation.
The lower legislative chamber passed its resolution during
plenary on Tuesday, following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Shehu Ajilo
from Kaduna state.
The minister is expected to brief the lawmakers on the
persistent petrol scarcity across the country.
In the last two weeks, long queues have resurfaced in petrol
stations amid scarcity of the product. The scenario has led to an increase in
transport costs.
Ajilo, while moving the motion, said fuel scarcity is
“coming at a time when the adverse economic effect caused by subsidy removal
and soaring inflation is yet to be addressed”.
“Concerned that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
Ltd is yet to address this perennial and persistent fuel scarcity problem faced
by Nigerians despite the volume of resources at its disposal,” he said.
“Most worrisome that all these economic quagmires have made
the lives of average Nigerians unbearable with a litre of fuel selling for as
much as N1200 in some states of the Federation.”
The lawmaker said parliament must “rise to the occasion to
ensure that lasting measures are taken to address this unfortunate and
embarrassing situation permanently in the interest” of all Nigerians.
On April 25, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)
Limited attributed the petrol scarcity to logistics issues, assuring Nigerians
that “they have been resolved”.
On Tuesday, Femi Soneye, NNPC spokesperson, said the
shortfall in the supply of petroleum products and queues for the products will
be cleared by May 1.
Soneye said the company currently has more than 1.5 billion
litres of product available, enough to last for at least 30 days.
“Unfortunately, we
experienced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues,
which has since been resolved,” he said.
“However, as you know, overcoming such disruptions typically
requires double the amount of time to return to normal operations.”
