Following the recent power outages and fuel scarcity experienced in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has apologised to Nigerians for the inconveniences caused.
A statement released on Twitter by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Wednesday quoted the President as saying his administration had successfully averted such a problem in its seven years in office.
His apology is coming after weeks of fuel scarcity crisis that has plagued the country, leading to long queues at filling stations and affecting many households and small businesses; many of whom rely on petroleum products to generate their own electricity.
“The administration knows the fuel shortage has placed a strain on Nigerian citizens and businesses, but relief is on the way. I especially apologise to all sections of the society for this,” said the President.
Buhari promised that his government is working round the clock with the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to resolve the price spike challenges.
He continued; “Sufficient fuel supply has returned to a handful of states, with the queues at stations falling. In the coming days, we expect this to be the case across the rest of the country. Looking to the longer term, funds are being targeted toward keeping fuel availability affordable for the country.
“The international energy markets have surged drastically in recent months, the government will however ensure that consumers are protected against these price spikes.”
Reacting to the information that some people were not behaving properly at the depots, President Buhari said he has directed the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and the entire security apparatus of the nation to take strong action against those responsible.
Addressing the issue of power outages which had plunged various parts of the country into blackout, the President explained that “a dip in hydroelectric generation due to seasonal pressures has coincided with technical and supply problems at thermal stations”.
He has therefore assured Nigerians that they are working tirelessly to resolve the issues at the latter to guarantee sufficient power flows into the national grid.
According to him, the main challenge for the collapse of the grid was identified as being one of low gas power generation, as a result of sabotage of gas pipelines leading to the shutdown of power plants coupled with routine maintenance on other gas power plants.
To recover over 1000MW, he said actions were agreed upon between the players in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and NNPC.
According to President Buhari, the actions targeted the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) plants, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), and power plants run under NNPC Joint Ventures, Agip and Shell (NAOC and SPDC).
He explained that progress on the key actions has already ensured the restoration of 375MW to the grid after the pipeline from “Okpai 1” was repaired.
To also ramp up the underutilised capacity of the NDPHC capacity, he said a $50 million gas supply agreement was being finalised to secure the sustainability of up to 800MW of underutilised NIPP assets.
As the blackout lingers in many parts of the country amidst the fuel hike, the President had assured Nigerians that the government’s attention to these problems would bear fruits very soon.