The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, on Thursday allayed fears that the nation could be thrown into another bout of fuel scarcity explaining that there is enough fuel in reserve within the country to last 40 to 45 days.
The Minister made this clarification at the inaugural meeting of the newly constituted Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
She explained that the artificial hitch in distribution currently being experienced has nothing to do with shortage in supply but unresolved issues between the Ministry of Finance and petroleum marketers.
The Minister expressed optimism that the issue will be resolved soon as the federal government was in control of the situation.
Long queues for fuel have increased across fuel stations in the Federal Capital Territory following the disagreement between the federal government and some major fuel marketers over subsidy payments.
An industrial action by oil marketers commenced on Wednesday, because some of them were yet to be paid money for subsidized oil importation by the government.
A trip around the town by Greenwich News correspondent revealed empty streets with most cars parked at petrol stations.
Most petrol stations were not dispensing fuel as they claim the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has refused any tanker from coming into Abuja.
The government halted the payments of subsidy claims following the indictment of some of the marketers by the fuel subsidy investigation committees.
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