President Muhammadu Buhari apologized “to all sections of the society” in a statement Wednesday for Nigeria’s increasingly critical shortages of gasoline and other petroleum fuel products, as well as a rotting electric grid that collapsed twice this week, leaving the entire country in the dark.
Nigerians have been experiencing extreme gasoline shortages since at least early February, leaving many citizens unable to drive to work and thus devastating manufacturing and other key sectors of the economy. The little gasoline available has doubled in price between January and March, becoming financially unattainable for many in the country. Commercial airliners warned this week that they were days away from running out of fuel, potentially grounding all civilian planes in the country.
The fuel shortages are especially frustrating to Nigerians as the country is Africa’s largest oil producer and an OPEC member nation. While rich in crude oil, Nigeria has very few facilities for refining the oil into serviceable fuel products, meaning it also imports almost all of its gasoline and jet fuel. The few refining facilities it does have face regular attacks from armed gangs that often leave them inoperable for days.
The electric grid failures, which are increasingly becoming regular occurrences, appear to be partly the result of poor maintenance. Nigerian Minister of Power Abubakar Aliyu blamed the latest outages this week, however, also on the fuel crisis, claiming that “vandalization” of oil pipelines to steal fuel had also damaged electric infrastructure. Some reports also blamed “weeks of bickering among operators” for the electric grid’s woeful performance.
Buhari provided little explanation for the fuel crisis in his apology statement, issued through top aide Mallam Garba Shehu, instead focusing on explaining what his government is allegedly doing to resolve the problem.
“The administration knows the fuel shortage has placed a strain on Nigerian citizens and businesses, but relief is on the way,” Buhari’s statement read, according to Vanguard. “I specially apologize to all sections of the society for this. … The government is working round the clock to attend to this issue.”
A motorist fill his tank with fuel bought with a jerrycan to avoid long queues as Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, is struggling with fuel scarcities that are causing traffic snarks in Lagos and other cities. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images)
Buhari said that his government had an “action plan … to address the scarcity [of gasoline]| that was “bearing fruit” in some states.
“Sufficient fuel supply has returned to a handful of states, with the queues at stations falling. In the coming days, we expect this to be the case across the rest of the country,” Buhari reportedly promised. “Looking to the longer term, funds are being targeted toward keeping fuel availability affordable for the country. The international energy markets have surged drastically in recent months, the government will however ensure that consumers are protected against these price spikes.”
Buhari appeared to be referring to skyrocketing oil prices triggered by the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, which prompted international sanctions on Russian oil that limited global supply and drove up prices. Nigerians have been enduring high prices and fuel shortages since long before Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, however.
Buhari’s statement did attempt to explain the power outages, which, like his power minister, he also blamed on “sabotage.”
“A dip in hydroelectric generation due to seasonal pressures has coincided with technical and supply problems at thermal stations,” Buhari claimed, latter adding, “the main challenge was identified as being one of low gas power generation as a result of sabotage of gas pipelines leading to shutdown of power plants coupled with ongoing routine maintenance on other gas power plants.”
Buhari became president in 2015 after serving as a military dictator in the 1980s, largely defeating incumbent Goodluck Jonathan on a promise to combat rampant crime and eliminate the Boko Haram jihadist organization. Buhari has failed to live up to that promise, though his government insists that Boko Haram has been defeated. While Boko Haram terrorists regularly stage attacks in the country’s northeast, Buhari’s government blames the attacks on the “Islamic State West Africa Province,” claiming this to be a separate organization and insisting Boko Haram no longer exists. Boko Haram renamed itself the “Islamic State West Africa Province” after pledging allegiance to now-dead “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2015.
Buhari’s government has also done little to rein in ethnic Fulani terrorists attacking Christian communities throughout the center of the country, which some experts consider an even greater threat than Boko Haram, prompting international condemnation. Buhari himself is a Fulani Muslim.
Buhari appeared to issue his statement on Wednesday from London, where he made a public appearance on Wednesday. The president, 79, regularly makes trips to the United Kingdom for alleged medical treatment. He has not publicly clarified what medical condition requires the trips and opposition politicians have criticized him for using public funds to rountinely leave the country for extended periods of time – and for failing to invest in Nigeria’s healthcare system so as to make his international travel unnecessary.
“The PDP is disturbed that while Mr. President jets out for medical treatment in well-equipped hospitals abroad, our hospitals and medical personnel are in very sorry situation while millions of our compatriots suffer,” the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lamented in a statement last year.
Buhari was scheduled to leave to London on March 2 but abruptly returned two days later. He left again for the United Kingdom on March 6 and appears to remain there at press time.
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