A coalition of Civil Society Organisations operating under the aegis of Civil Society Coalition for Economic Well-being and Good Governance, on Thursday issued a 78-hour ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari to end fuel scarcity or face mass protest. This was contained in a communique issued by the Coalition after a one-day meeting on Wednesday and made available to journalists on Thursday in Abuja. The communique signed by Mr. Garba Danzi, Chairman; Ayodele Hughes, Secretary-General and two other executives lamented the challenges faced by Nigerians over protracted fuel scarcity across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory.
The communique read in part: “The coalition which comprises 34 organisations have their leaders represented at the meeting. The coalition noted with sadness difficulty being faced by the citizens occasioned by endless fuel scarcity despite promises by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to tackle the ugly situation and resolved as follows:
“That the coalition issues a 78- hour ultimatum for the Federal Government to end fuel scarcity by ensuring sufficient premium motor spirit (PMS) and gasoline at all retail outlets across the country.
“The coalition called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigeria National Petroleum Limited (NNPL), Mr Mele Abba Kyari within 78 hours.
“That failure on part of the Federal Government to take prompt action and put measures in place for availability of fuel and subsequent disappearance of queues, the coalition would mobilise citizens from 36 states of the federation and FCT to occupy the NNPCL towers in the Central Business District, Abuja in protest.”
The Coalition also called for the sack of the Minister of State for Petroleum within 78 hours, Timipreye Sylva, a failure which they insisted would form part of the reasons for mass protest.
The group further called on President Buhari to disband the recently constituted steering committee which he made himself chairman, stressing that he was busy with electioneering campaign to tackle fuel scarcity.
