The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has called for the urgent need for coordinated action and strategic interventions to address the fuel scarcity and fortify organisational resilience.
It’s Director-General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, made the call on Sunday in a statement following the current persistent queues for petrol at most filling stations in the country.
Oyerinde said that the ongoing scarcity, with attendant loss of productive man hours as a result of endless hours spent at filling stations, defied logic.
He said also, that the ongoing disruption of businesses across diverse sectors, escalating transportation and logistical bottlenecks had progressively led to increased operational costs.
‘’There is need for heightened collaboration among the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, petroleum marketers, and other stakeholders to optimise fuel distribution and mitigate supply chain disruptions.
‘’In addition, there is need to quickly lock-on to measures that will sustain the availability of the products in the medium and long runs such as strong encouragement, the Dangote refinery and other private sector refineries, while resuscitating the existing nation ones, ‘’ he said.
The director-general said also, that due to the epileptic nature of electricity supply from the grid, most businesses, particularly the Small and Medium Enterprise, depended on self-electricity generation by utilising fuel.
Oyerinde, who expressed dismay, said that the scarcity of fuel in the country had further worsened idle capacities, as capacity utilisation continued to decline among businesses.
‘’The idle capacity will eventually trigger low production and profit, leading to retrenchment/layoff of workers.
‘’I call for the implementation of robust regulatory measures to deter hoarding and ensure equitable fuel distribution, fostering fair market practices and consumer accessibility, ‘’ he said.
