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Amid controversies surrounding the ongoing fuel scarcity in the country, the umbrella body of all registered political parties and political associations in Nigeria, the Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has commended the move by President Muhammadu Buhari to end queues in the filling stations by setting up a 14-man Steering Committee to find lasting solutions to the problems associated with the supply and distribution chain of petroleum products across the West African country.

In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, the CNPP observed that “as desirable as the step taken by President Muhammadu Buhari may be, the first step to salvage the oil sector is to cleanse the newly incorporated NNPC Limited of the inherited corrupt management team who are currently overseeing the company.”

Recall that the committee which was set up by President Muhammadu Buhari which would be chaired by himself and co-chaired by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.

Other members of the committee are the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources; National Economic Adviser to the President; Director-General, Department of State Services (DSS); Comptroller-General, Nigeria Custom Service (NCS); the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Commandant-General, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

The rest of the members are the Chief Executive, NMDPRA; governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); the group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited; Special Advisor (special duties) to the Minister of State Petroleum while the Minister of State’s technical Advisor (midstream) as the secretary.

The CNPP, however, noted that “it is impossible to have the same people, who created the problem that manifests today as fuel scarcity, find solution to the problem which was created due to incompetence and intention to corruptly enrich a few.

“Today, NNPC has opened another channel for siphoning taxpayers’ money by venturing into road construction when the company has been unable to meet Nigeria’s OPEC oil production supply quota and has denied the country of the needed foreign exchange.

“The ripple effect of the inability of the current NNPC Limited’s management to earn foreign exchange for Nigeria is the prevailing forex scarcity, leading to continuous crash of the naira against the United States dollar.

“Therefore, if the Mallam Mele Kyari-led NNPC cannot get a single refinery in Nigeria working in nearly eight years, how can it solve the current problem of fuel scarcity?

“If President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking to end his tenure with enduring legacy in the oil industry in Nigeria, it’s about time he got rid of the current Mele Kyari-led NNPC Limited.

“Our position remains that President Buhari inaugurated and reinforced corruption the day he unveiled the new NNPC.

“The perennial fuel scarcity in the country is man-made through deliberate policies by the Mallam Mele Kyari-led NNPC management team.

“We are glad that the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies are part of the committee but the committee will produce little or no positive result if the current NNPC leadership remains in office”, the CNPP stated.

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