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Fuel scarcity: Don’t worry, it’ll soon end –Okonjo-Iweala

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Nigerians may have to wait till Sunday, before they can heave a sigh of relieve over the fuel scarcity currently being experienced in Abuja, Lagos and some other parts of the country.

 The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday said that the situation would end latest by Saturday.

She said the scarcity which had led to long queues of vehicles at filling stations across the country was extensively discussed at the meeting, and that proper briefings on the causes and solutions, President Jonathan gave specific instructions, on how to deal with the matter because he wanted prompt and quick action to improve the situation as fast as possible.

She insisted that the scarcity was caused by a number of factors which included the depreciation in exchange rate.

“But the long and ‎short of the matter is that the financial issue has been taken care of”, she said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on Tuesday threatened to clamped down indefinitely any petrol filling station engaged in hoarding, or selling above the approved rate of N87 per liter.

Mrs Chioma Njoku, Operations’ Controller for Lagos Zone of the agency, made the assertion on a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

According to her, the department has been inundated with complaints from the public on the arbitrarily fixing of petrol prices above the government approved rate.

Njoku also charged marketers of petroleum products in Lagos to ensure that the products supply and distribution to the public met the recommended specifications.

She said that DPR had sanctioned some erring marketers caught hoarding petrol and engaging in other sharp practices.

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