The Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed has reportedly approved the constitution of a task force comprising relevant security agencies and the Department of Petroleum Resources to address the lingering fuel scarcity in the state. Alhaji Isiaka Gold, Secretary to the State Government who made this known in a statement released to newsmen on Thursday in Ilorin said the situation had reached a worrisome level primarily because only a few stations were dispensing fuel.
He said the scarcity had continued because some unscrupulous marketers are still hoarding petroleum products and selling only to black marketers. He disclosed that the mandate of the task force is to identify such marketers and take decisive action against them.
The statement says the State Commissioner for Commerce and Cooperatives, Alhaja Funmilayo Isiaka Oniwa will chair the task force, while the Director Special Services, Alhaji S.B Mohammed will serve as Secretary.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Security; Alhaji Amusa Bello, Special Adviser, Emergency; Alhaji Musa Abdullahi, Senior Special Assistant, Security Intelligence, Alhaji Abdulsalami Bolakale and Chairman of the State’s Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alhaji Okanlawon Olanrewaju are members of the task force.
Other members are State Chairmen of Petroleum Tankers Drivers and representatives of the State Commissioner of Police, Director of State Security Service and Representative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC.