Amid the controversial $6 billion debt being owed to petrol suppliers by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, a Northern group, Arewa Democratic Front, ADF, has urged President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action.
DAILY POST recalls that the Chief Communications Officer of the NNPCL, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, confirmed the debt, highlighting the severe financial strain it had imposed on the company’s operations.
The confirmation comes at a time fuel crisis has persisted in the country despite promises by the NNPCL.
In a statement made available to DAILY POST on Monday, the ADF, through its National Coordinator, Engr. Mustafa Yusuf and the National Secretary, Malam Muazu Haruna said Nigerians had suffered enough under the Mele Kyari-led NNPCL.
The Arewa group said it was compelled to speak out against the current fuel crisis and the disastrous mismanagement of the petroleum sector under the NNPCL.
According to ADF, “It is both alarming and deeply disheartening that under the watch of Mele Kyari, the Group CEO of NNPCL, Nigerians are being forced to purchase Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at exorbitant prices exceeding N1,000 per liter in some areas.
“This situation, which has pushed many citizens to the brink of despair, is a direct consequence of the gross inefficiency that has come to characterize the NNPCL.”
“The suffering inflicted on the masses, who have already been battered by economic hardships, cannot be overstated.
“It is a travesty that a country as rich in oil resources as Nigeria should find itself in such a deplorable situation,” ADF lamented.
It added that the NNPCL’s alleged failure to manage the petroleum sector effectively was evident in the long queues at petrol stations across the country, which served as a daily reminder of the company’s ineptitude.
“The most damning evidence of this failure is the revelation of a staggering N6 billion dollars debt due petrol to ‘secret’ subsidy payments, despite the supposed cancellation of fuel subsidies over a year ago.
“This debt, which has been accumulated under the guise of subsidy payme
