The Senate Wednesday, summoned Comptroller General of Nigerian Custom Service, Hameed Ali, over the ban of fuel supply to boarder towns.
The Customs boss according to the Upper Legislative Chamber , is to meet its standing committee on Customs , to fashion out a viable economic framework/policy that could further mitigate the sufferings of the people, and communities across the border area on account of the on going border closure policy.
These were sequel to a motion sponsored to that effect by Senator Akinremi Odebiyi (APC Ogun west) at plenary on the floor of the senate.
Odebiyi in the motion argued that the suspension order placed on the fuel supply had created huge scarcity of the products in the border towns of Ogun, Lagos Adamawa, Katsina and Sokoto states.
He said that the directive is a knee jerk approach to a modern day problem, as its obsolete, when compared to the array of technological solutions that can be explored to rid the country of the menace
He lamented that many filling stations within 20km in Ipokia have been shut forcefully by the federal government task force on border closure, illegally harassing residents in the process thereby, violating their rights to personal dignity as enshrined in section 34(1) of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria.
He lamented that the fall out of the the order , has made a litre of Petrol to now be sold as high as N600 , an astronomical rise from it normal price of N145.”
He noted that, if the situation is not properly address very soon, it will compound the already bad situation created by prolonged border closure with further hardships on the people.
He therefore advised the comptroller General to urgently explore the use of modern technological devices in tracking, management, and scheduling of petroleum trucks that undertake business along the border towns.
The senate accordingly resolved to ensure that a steady supply of petroleum products through the identified suppliers and registered filling stations across all the border towns and communities as a temporary palliative measure.
