The
Chairman of the Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry, ACCI, Tony Ejinkeonye
has revealed that Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, have recorded
losses of N30bn in the last one month owing to the lingering #fuelscarcity.
According to
Ejinkeonye, the continuous fuel scarcity is gradually grounding commercial
activities to a halt.
Ejinkeonye said,
“Businesses, especially MSMEs have lost over N30 billion as a result of
inadequate supply of petroleum products. Productivity is low as employees have
stayed off work since the hike of fares by providers and when they come, they
are always late. Businesses and the economy are being battered from all sides-
forex, energy supply, infrastructure and security concerns. The list is
endless.”
But while addressing
the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Minister of State for
Petroleum and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said the scarcity would be over on or
before April 7, 2016.
He, however, faulted
the NNPC for not proffering meaningful solution to the issue of fuel scarcity
over the years.
Questioning the ban on
sale of petrol in kegs, Ejinkeonye likened it to treating symptoms instead of
addressing the issue.
“The issue of
unavailability of petroleum products and its importation portray our country in
bad light. It portrays us as an incompetent manager of our resources. NNPC
from the comments of its officials may have given up. We may seriously need to
divest our refineries,” Ejinkeonye said.
Comments