Nigeria has only witnessed one major fuel scarcity since the inception of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, says Mr Femi Adesina.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, stated this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“Each time this issue of the fuel scarcity come up, there is also a word that comes to my mind; that word is called SNAFU, and it’s an acronym for Situation Normal All Filed Ups.
“What happened is a SNAFU in the petrol supply chain in the country,” he said. “In the life of this administration which will be seven years in May, it is only one major fuel scarcity we have had.”
Not A Routine
Lagos, Abuja, and major cities across the country were hit with fuel scarcity following the recent importation of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.
Amid an outcry over the situation which left many car engines damaged, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) said it has since withdrawn the adulterated petrol from the market.
It assured Nigerians that by the end of February, there would have been up to 2.1 billion litres of petrol in the country while millions of litres of the product were already in stock.
Despite the continued presence of long queues at filling stations, Adesina stressed that it should not be an opportunity for mischief makers to cause tension in the country.
“Now, there is a SNAFU, and some people are crying out as if heavens have fallen; no,” he said. “We should always consider the past and the present in this country. More than any other administration, this one (Buhari’s) has restored normalcy in petroleum supply for years.
“It is regrettable that Nigerians have had to stay hours on end at petrol stations. My driver also goes to queue up for hours before he gets fuel. Some people have had their car engines damaged, very regrettable.
“But then, we should not forget that it is not a routine or regular occurrence in the country and if there was an oversight, there is already a structure that can deal with that and we have been told that it’s going to be looked at.”
