AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, the governor of Kwara State and chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, has warned oil marketers to refrain from subjecting the populace to unwarranted hardship by inducing fake fuel scarcity both within and outside of the state.
In a statement released on Tuesday and signed by his chief press secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, AbdulRazaq said that the current practise of not supplying petrol to drivers without the government raising the price was wholly inappropriate.
Since they had acquired what they already had at heavily discounted prices, he urged petroleum marketers to immediately provide fuel to the general public under the standard pricing structure.
“Creating artificial scarcity amounts to an intentional misrepresentation of the statement of President Bola Tinubu on the question of fuel subsidy. The people should not be made to undergo any hardship.
“The Governor urges the marketers to desist from anything that qualifies as economic sabotage of the people. Hoarding fuel bought at subsidised prices and creating panic in the state is opportunistic and will not be condoned.
“His Excellency, the Deputy Governor, Mr. Kayode Alabi, will be leading a task force to ensure that no fuel marketer causes undue hardship to the citizens in Kwara State.
“Fuel stations are to note that the task force will dip into their pits. Any filling stations found to be hoarding fuel will have their Certificate of Occupancy revoked, among other penalties.”
It was learnt that most of the petrol stations in the Ilorin area of the state closed down their stations and refused to sell fuel to motorists since the President, Bola Tinubu, announced during the inauguration on Monday that fuel subsidy would not be sustained by his administration.
