From BUHARI B BELLO, Jos
The National President, National Association of Nigerian Student (NANS), Comrade Mohammed Dauda has expressed dismay over what he called injustice being meted on some individuals and groups accused of having a hand in the ongoing investigations on Nigerian Petroleum shoddy deals.
NANS leadership made its concern known yesterday in Jos, at a press conference, according to the student leader, the lingering petroleum impasse which is threatening closing down Capital Oil and Gas Limited; is capable of rendering many Nigerians Jobless.
He said innocent Nigerian masses who are employed at the company, particularly Nigerian youths who earn their daily bread from the company will be the victims, thereby posing a setback to the national economy.
The address of the NANS president stressed that “we have had cause to observe the raging scarcity in the availability of petroleum products in the country and we have come to realize that this cannot be easily disconnected from the alarm raised by our association some weeks ago about the likely implication of the prolonged impasse between some Independent Petroleum marketers and the Federal Government represented by the Federal Ministry of Finance in the impasse.”
Comrade Dauda however commended efforts of the House of Representative on the role it played to resolve the matter “We want to commend the bold step taken by the House of Representatives in finding a solution between Capital Oil and Gas and Access Bank of Nigeria.
There is no doubt that the steps so far taken by the Bank against Capital Oil have contributed to a huge shortage in the services being rendered to Nigerians by the company and it is now been seen as a desperate attempt to forcefully take over the company from its original owners.
We urge the National Assembly to thoroughly investigate the matter and come out with a resolution that will put an end to this long drawn battle which is in turn taking its toll on both innocent Nigerian consumers and the large population of youth employed by Capital Oil and Gas.”
The student leadership faulted the situation where some persons are been harassed while others who are fingered in the same issue are been overlooked “one particular mention in our earlier show of concern was the harassment been meted out one the Nation’s oil distribution giant, Capital Oil and Gas limited. It may amaze you why we have singled out Capital Oil for mention in this regard.
Our reasons are not far-fetched because Capital Oil as a Nigerian owned company has been responsible for the distribution of not less than 35percent of our local consumption of PMS on a daily basis as a country. This among others is the effort that the company has many patriotically in ensuring stability in the petroleum sector of the economy.”
Comrade Dauda used the medium and called for the immediate release of the findings by the committee which investigated the matter by the federal government “We also wish to use this medium to corroborate the position of the Conference of Nigeria Political parties (CNPP) and other civil society organization by calling on the Federal Government and in particular the Ministry of Finance to as a matter of compliance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), release without further delay, the reports of the pending outcome of the AIG-Imoukhede led committee on Subsidy claims which is now being used as an instrument by the Ministry in settling the outstanding subsidy payments in the country.”
