The President of the Senate, David Mark, yesterday called for the sack of the management of Pipeline and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) and also to revoke licenses of kerosene distributors over the none availability of the product.
Mark spoke during deliberations on the general principles of a bill that seeks to ensure direct bulk allocation of kerosene from PPMC/NNPC to kerosene peddlers as against the current practise of granting bulk allocation of kerosene to major marketers only.
Ironically, the bill, which was sponsored by Senator NkechNwaogu (PDP, Abia) suffered a setback as it was killed and could not scale the crucial second reading. Senators instead pointed out that the pending Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would take of such legislations.??
Mark also gave a damning assessment of the direct kerosene sales scheme being organised by Capital Oil, describing it as a failure. This was even as he accused middlemen in the distribution of kerosene for feeding fat on the difficulties experienced by Nigerians in accessing the product.?
“The solution to that is that the man who is in charge currently, who is to ensure that kerosene gets to the man on the street and who is not doing it, is like Ahmed rightly said, just sack him and let him go. Get somebody else and get all those that are involved to get along with him too. Because Paulkersaid one company was distributing kerosene and it was not doing it. We are all aware that kerosene does not get to where it should be.
“There are a lot of middlemen who are just making millions out of it at the expense of the ordinary man. If you now ask the man in the village to come to Abuja and get his allocation he is only going to end up spending and using his own money to bribe more people than he is trying to do at the moment.
So, that one, will not solve the problem. This bill will not solve the problem. The intention and the reasoning behind the bill are very sound. It is good and in the interest of the common man, but this is not a solution to the problem.