Baru visits Presidential Villa as fuel queues persist

By Oke Peter
The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Makanti Baru, on Monday visited the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The visit came at a time the fuel scarcity being witnessed across the country had persisted.
It was not clear as of the time of filing this report who Baru met during his visit as he was only sighted while leaving the premises.
At the time of his visit, President Muhammadu Buhari had left the country for Paris, France where he is scheduled to attend the One Planet Summit.
It was not clear if the NNPC boss met with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo or the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.
The Federal Executive Council presided over by Osinbajo last week ordered the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachickwu, and Baru to end the scarcity before last weekend.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had disclosed this to State House correspondents after the meeting.
Meanwhile, fuel queues have built up in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State as independent marketers have shut down filing stations over shortage of petrol.
This came just as a militant was killed by operatives of the Nigerian Army in the Calabar-South axis of the metropolis over suspected case of bunkering.
One of our correspondents, who went round the metropolis on Monday, observed that most independent marketers’ retailing outlets were closed because they had no fuel.
It was learnt the product was not available at the NNPC depot, while one of the major marketers reportedly sold the product at N143 ex-depot price to independent marketers.