The Federal Government on Thursday blamed the acute fuel scarcity in Nigeria to an unforeseen and unexpected accident.
Sylva told journalists in Abuja that efforts were in top gear to clear the queues and assured Nigerians that the scarcity would end in days.
He said, “This kind of supply disruptions are like accidents, they are not desirable and you don’t expect them to happen but they do happen once in a while.
“You will agree with me that this administration has done well as far as fuel supply is concerned. But accidents do happen and this is one of those accidents that was not foreseen.
“But I am quite happy today to hear from the group managing director of NNPC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority chief executive all that they have been doing to ensure that this problem is brought under control.”
The minister added, “From what they have told me, I believe that in a matter of days we will see that this problem is totally back to normal. Everybody is putting every effort to ensure that the supply disruption is overcome.”
The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, said the oil firm had enough petrol to end the scarcity.
He said, “We are doing everything possible to bring the situation under control. We have a significant product in stock and as of this evening, we have 1.79 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit on the ground.
“We are continuing the 24 hours loading at the depots and selling at some selected petrol stations,” adding that NNPC was working to halt racketeering at the depots.
