According to the Chairman of the
Independent Petroleum Marketers
Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Sunny
Nkpe , Nigeria is constantly plagued with fuel
crises because it’s not using its refineries.
Nkpe disclosed this on Monday, May 25, 2015,
during a telephone interview with Pulse.
The IPMAN Chairman stated further that
Nigeria’s refineries can produce 50-60% of
the fuel the country needs but they’ve been
shut down for more than a year.
“We have refineries that can refine
450,000 barrels of crude oil per day,
that’s millions of litres of refined
product,” he said.
“Why are we not using the refineries?
Let them use the refineries,” Nkpe said.
An industry insider, who chose to remain
anonymous, told Pulse that the relevant
government agencies refuse to use the local
refineries to produce the country’s needs
because there’s much more money to be
fraudulently gotten from importing the
product.
“They are knowingly boycotting the
refineries,” she said. “They make more money
with importation due to corruption and
fraud,” she added.
The fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria has come
to be viewed as a huge scam, a notion
buttressed by the 2014 arrest of 121 suspects,
who were believed to have benefited from it,
by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).
The current scarcity is said to be an artificial
creation of the marketers in attempts to force
the government to pay the remaining subsidy
debt it owes them before a new administration
is inaugurated on May 29, 2015.
Meanwhile, the marketers have called of their
strike and are expected to begin supplying
product nationwide to end the scarcity.
However, until the real problems causing the
scarcity are resolved, Nigerians are left
asking how long it will be before the next
crisis occurs.

source:
pulse.ng/local/revealed-the-real-reason-behind-fuel-scarcity-in-nigeria-id3794475.html?utm_campaign=art-revealed-the-real-reason-behind-fuel-scarcity-in-nigeria-2015-05-25&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook