One of Nigeria’s main opposition parties, the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) has taken a swipe at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for insulting Nigerians by boasting that local crude production has reached an all time high of 2.7Million barrels per day.
The party, in a statement, signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon Emma Eneukwu, in Abuja, said it is unfortunate that the NNPC could contemplate boasting of such feat when Nigerians are presently going through the throes of biting fuel scarcity nationwide.
Full text of the Statement reads:
The attention of the All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP] has been drawn to a media report where the Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC], Mr. Andrew Yakubu, said on Thursday that local crude oil production has reached an all-time high of 2.7 million barrels per day [mbpd]. He boasted that NNPC has been able to maintain crude oil production above the budgeted production level of 2.48mbpd, and also competently supplies petroleum products to the whole nation. Bearing in mind that we are presently under the throes of biting fuel scarcity nationwide and that it is the primary task of the corporation to supply petroleum products, the NNPC brag is nothing but insult to the psyche of the suffering masses.
In various parts of the country, there are very long queues at filling stations with many of them selling fuel far above the approved pump price. The Nigerian people, who should be enjoying the benevolent gesture of the Almighty in situating such bountiful natural resources under our very feet, are today confronted by the unnecessary hardship brought about by sheer incompetence and corruption entrenched in the very organ of government whose task is to manage such blessing. We wonder why the NNPC with the other petroleum outfits under it are not able to ensure steady supply of petroleum products as well as sanity in its distribution.
What is more, just recently the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, lamented that there was no accuracy of crude oil production and sale in the country. He queried the figure given by the NNPC which indicated that Nigeria’s crude oil product per day was 2.7 barrels, while asserting that the NNPC has no metering system with which to authoritatively gauge their daily production level.
The ANPP therefore asks the NNPC to concentrate on upgrading its infrastructure for efficiency rather than playing to the gallery with nothing to show for its vaunted performance. We also call on the National Assembly in the light of its oversight function over the nation’s oil company, to insist that the NNPC produce statements of accounts reflecting transactions relating to the marketing and sales of crude oil in the country. We believe that the nation’s crude oil account should not be shrouded in secrecy; the Nigerian people need to know how their commonwealth is being managed.
