Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, yesterday in Lagos, blamed the current fuel scarcity across the country on alleged sabotage by fuel marketers and depot owners, even as it did not absolve the Federal Government and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC from blame.

Answering reporters’ question on the current fuel scarcity at a briefing by the Joe Ajaero led faction of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, NUPENG President, Comrade Igwe Achese, insisted that NUPENG members were not on strike, but that there were simply no products for members to load because of alleged sabotage by the marketers and depot owners.

Comrade Achese who is also a Deputy President of the Ajaero’s faction of NLC, urged the government to call the marketers to order, stating that majority of the products are in private depots instead of public depots.

He said “the NNPC which is also importing fuel is storing the products in the private depots. The marketers who are aggrieved because the government has not paid them their subsidy claims can easily direct the private depot owners to shut down and not release products.

”We have public depots or NNPC depots across the country such as in Mosomi, Atlas Cove, Warri, Enugu, Owerri, Ilorin, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, etc. Today, the pipelines are functioning; we do not know why they are not being used to transport products by the NNPC. The government should make the NNPC to use the pipelines. Government should also be responsible enough and pay the marketers their subsidy claims. You do not expect them to be happy and be importing fuel when their money is hanging with government. If the refineries are working optimally, we will not be in the mess.”