By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
The Federal Government yesterday said it was aware of the difficulties Nigerians currently face over the lingering fuel scarcity and poor power supply, and that it was working round the clock to provide the relief for the citizenry.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this in a statement issued in Abuja, added that “as a government that was propelled into office by the power of the people, we cannot but feel the pains of our compatriots, and we deeply empathise with them.”
“Our message to our compatriots is that this Administration, under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, is working round the clock to ease the pains of Nigerians, and that very soon, the efforts of the government will begin to yield fruits for the benefit of
Nigerians,” he said during a visit to the Corporate Headquarters of Daily Trust, in continuation of his tour of media establishments in the country.
Mohammed said the government was not unaware that Nigerians have started questioning the genuineness of its Change Agenda, adding: ”We understand the skepticism of Nigerians in questioning whether this indeed is the change they voted for.
I can tell Nigerians that our
Change Agenda is real, and that indeed Nigerians will get the change they voted for.”
He also announced the willingness of the International Upstream Oil Companies to support major oil marketing companies with some of the required foreign exchange, thus complementing the efforts of the NNPC which had been solely importing the refined products, in addition to the fact that the Corporation is pursuing an improved model for ‘crude oil for refined product’ exchange to eliminate inefficiencies.
On the power situation, which he blamed largely on lack of gas supply to the power generating stations, he said the NNPC is seeking alternative sources of gas supply after the attack on the Forcados Export Pipeline forced the cut-off of gas supplies to the stations.
“While we give no excuses for the challenges currently being faced by Nigerians, because they voted for us specifically to address those challenges, we appeal to them to bear with us as we strive to provide the much-needed relief in the days ahead.”
