The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, on Thursday directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ensure that petrol queues were cleared in Abuja before Sunday, Premium Times reports.

Mr. Kachikwu gave the directive at a world news conference to intimate journalists on the upcoming international oil and gas conference and exhibition tagged the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS). According to him, the queues have been persistent because logistics and policy issues that could end the scarcity are largely unaddressed.

“I can tell you behind the scenes, a lot of meetings are taking place because the fuel queue issue is both logistics and policy issues. We will need to address fundamental policy issues to enable it go away especially in the area where the pricing is showing differentials between the landing and sales price,” he said.

“Quite frankly, they will have to do whatever it takes to get this eliminated in Abuja. That is the directive I will be sending to the NNPC and let them work night and day to put a lot more efforts in trying to do this,’’ Mr. Kachikwu added. The minister urged Nigerians to be patient about the fuel situation as there was a lot of “efficiency re-engineering’’ going on.

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