DSS Gives NNPC, Oil Marketers 48 Hours To Address Fuel Crisis

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other stakeholders in the oil sector have the next 48 hours to address the lingering fuel crisis in the country.

Naija News reports that the Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday issued an ultimatum to the concerned bodies, threatening that it would launch a manhunt on the stakeholders should the crisis persist after two days.

The spokesman of the secret police, Peter Afunanya, stated this at the headquarters of the service in Abuja shortly after the Director-General of DSS met with the stakeholders.

Afunanya hopes that the stakeholders would take the warning seriously as the agency would not want to see queues at various feeling stations across the country after 48 hours.

The stakeholders who attended the meeting included MOMAN, DEPMAN, IPMAN, NNPC, NARTO, NUPENG and PTD, Naija News understands.

Crude Oil: Nigeria’s Foreign Trade Falls By N1.24tn

Meanwhile, a recent National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data report revealed the latest setback in Nigeria’s Foreign Trade, Naija News reports.

Based on the data released by the government agency on Monday, December 5, 2022, the nation’s total merchandise trade, which stood at N12.84tn in the second quarter of 2022, slumped to N11.59tn in the third quarter of the same year.

The development means there was a shortfall of N1.24tn within the third quarter. The Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics (Q3 2022) report by the NBS noted that the fall was influenced by the decline in crude oil exports, which fell from N5.91tn in Q2 2022 to N4.66tn in Q3 2022.

The report reads: “In q3 2022, Nigeria’s total trade stood at N11.59tn, this was lower than the value recorded in the second quarter of 2022 (N12.84tn) but was higher than the value recorded in the corresponding period of 2021 which stood at N10.47tn.

“Total Exports stood at N5.93tn of which Re-exports were N25.04bn, while total imports stood at N5.66tn. In the quarter under review, total exports declined by 19.89 per cent when compared to the second quarter of 2022 (N7.41tn) but it increased by 15.52 per cent of the value recorded in the third quarter of 2021 (N5.14tn).

“On the other hand, total imports increased by 4.22 per cent in the third quarter of 2022 when compared to the value recorded in the second quarter of 2022 (N5.44tn) and also grew by 6.16 per cent when compared to the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021 (N5.34tn).”

According to NBS, the top five export destinations in the period were: Spain, India, France, the Netherlands, and Indonesia.

The top five countries for imports were: China, The Netherlands, India, Belgium, and the United States of America.