The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, has revealed that petrol trucks are being diverted from Lagos to the hinterlands and West African countries like Cameroon and Chad.
Kachikwu disclosed on Monday, April 25, that in the past one week, about 500 petrol trucks have been sent to Lagos but only about 250 offloaded their contents.
Kachikwu made this known at a Lagos Town Hall Meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information, where he also stated that ‘a few Nigerians’ are benefiting at the detriment the majority of the populace.
He said the petrol tankers are able to get away with this because the Petroleum Ministry cannot monitor their activities once they are loaded with fuel.
The Minister however, said his ministry is working towards curbing this by installing trackers on each trucks and also by registering the depots and filling stations they are meant to supply – hence, if they fail to offload the quantity required, there will be a record of the anomaly.
He further empathised with Nigerians on the fuel scarcity situation which has lingered for the past few months, by stating that ‘everything that touches Nigerians touches me’.
“I appreciate your patience. We didn’t cause it but we are working towards solutions”, the Minister added.
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