The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has apologised to Nigerians for his statement that the lingering fuel scarcity would last till May 2016. Kachikwu assured that the fuel crisis would be over by Thursday, April 7, 2016.
“By 6th or 7th April, the long queues in filing stations would disappear,” he said.
Last week, after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister had told newsmen that he does not have a magic wand to make the endless queues at the filling stations across the county disappear, stressing it would last for another two months. The statement was criticised by Nigerians, including the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, who described it as insensitive and insulting.
Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, made the apology and assurance while appearing before the Senate committee on Petroleum (Downstream) over the fuel scarcity on Tuesday, March 29. The committee summoned Kachikwu upon the directive of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who expressed concern over the degenerating situation.