Sabotage claims over fuel shortage as Muhammadu Buhari party readies to take over

ABUJA

Nigeria’s opposition has accused outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan of leaving a country in crisis, as fuel shortages brought the nation to a standstill just days from Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration.

Amid the crisis, a big Nigerian bank is shortening its opening times in the latest sign of the impact of the fuel shortage.

Guarantee Trust Bank says its branches will close at 12:00 noon as it struggles to get fuel for its generators.

The party of President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has accused the outgoing government of “sabotage” as it is failing to deal with the crisis.

The wholesale fuel sellers have been withholding petrol as they say they are owed $1bn (Ksh95bn) by the government.

The shortage, which has been going on for more than a month, means that Africa’s biggest economy is slowly grinding to halt.

Most Nigerian businesses and homes rely on diesel-powered generators because of the poor electricity infrastructure.

LONG QUEUES

Over the weekend, two of country’s leading mobile phone companies, MTN and Airtel, warned that the fuel scarcity could effect their services as they were finding it difficult to supply diesel to the base stations.

Traffic on the roads is also reducing as many fuel stations have stopped selling petrol and there are long queues at places where they are selling petrol, our correspondent says.

Many domestic flights have been cancelled and some international flights are having to land in neighbouring countries to refuel.

It appears the fuel importers and marketers who operate a multi-billion dollar scam are blackmailing the government into agreeing to one more massive payout as they are not sure how much longer the fuel subsidy racket will go on.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) highlighted record lows in electricity production, multiple strikes and billions of dollars in unpaid debts, suggesting Jonathan’s government was deliberately leaving the country in a mess.

“Never in the history of our country has any government handed over to another a more distressed country,” APC spokesman Lai Mohammed said in an emailed statement.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala , the finance minister, said  oil marketers were demanding for N159 billion as foreign exchange differentials out of N200 billion it demands from government for payment. 

She said that government had met with the marketers and they agreed that they would supply the product but which they never did

“Never in the history of our country has any government handed over to another a more distressed country,” APC spokesman Lai Mohammed said in an emailed statement.

Mr Buhari won Nigeria’s first-ever opposition victory in March 28 elections and is set to take over as head of state of Africa’s most populous nation, leading economy and top oil producer this Friday. At least three Nigerian radio stations have gone off the air to ration fuel that powers its generators.

Some schools have brought forward half-term holidays. One user on Twitter posted a sign from his church saying it had merged Yoruba-language and English services because of the shortages.

“Don’t bother to bring your (phone) charger to church, we have disconnected all the plugs,” read the note, which was signed: “Yours in Christ.”

OPEC-member Nigeria produces some two million barrels of oil per day but has no functioning refineries and is forced to import crude products such as petrol and diesel.

The government keeps fuel at below market price at the pumps, paying the difference to importers in a system the government says is riddled with corruption.