Chairman, Skymark Energy and Power Ltd, Muhammad Saleh-Hassan, has urged oil marketers and other stakeholders in the energy sector, to cooperate with the federal government and end fuel scarcity in Nigeria.
The energy stakeholder, who made the call in Abuja, stressed that oil marketers had a major role to play in ending recurring fuel scarcity in the country.
Saleh-Hassan said the energy crisis appeared to have defied government’s efforts, and urged oil marketers to be patriotic and support government by shunning sharp practices and putting the people’s interests above high profit-making targets.
“In this circumstance that we have found ourselves, the marketers and other stakeholders should be patriotic by supporting government in the interest of the masses.
“A critical situation like this is not a time that we should be thinking of our personal interests and gains. We should also think of the interests of the nation and the people.”
“This is because you rely on the people to do your business. So, they too need your support to be able to afford the services you are rendering to them.
“You also rely on government for regulations to also do your business. That is why you should also support government,” he added.
Saleh-Hassan said it was morally wrong for oil markers, as critical stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, to be unpatriotic by aiding and abetting energy crisis through sharp practices which caused fuel scarcity.
“You are not supposed to take advantage of the situation by insisting that you want to add transport cost, or make more money by hoarding your products, sending it to the black market or diverting it to other destinations, where you think that you can make more gains.
“I, therefore, call on the marketers, particularly the Independent Petroleum Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), the Major Oil Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), the Petroleum and Natural Gas Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) among others, to support government in finding a lasting solution in the interest of the masses,” he said.
