The house of representatives has
asked the Nigeria Customs Service to lift the ban on supply of petroleum
products to fuel stations at the land borders.
At Tuesday’s plenary session, the
lower legislative chamber said the ban is having adverse effects on Nigerians,
especially those in border communities.
The federal government had,
through the customs, directed that petroleum products should not be supplied to
fuel stations within 20km of the borders, in order to check smuggling.
This was after reports that some
fuel stations in border towns were channels for smuggling fuel to neighbouring
countries.
But telecommunications operators
in the country warned that the restriction could cause network disruptions.
In a letter to Umar Danbatta,
executive chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), the
operators said the ban is “already having huge negative impact on our members’
operations and this may be significant if the necessary agencies of government
do not urgently intervene in the situation”.
Introducing a motion of urgent
public importance, Sada Soli from Katsina state asked the house to intervene
and direct the customs to lift the ban.
He said the directive to suspend
the supply of petroleum products to the stations contradict the customs and
excise act, and that it should instead be reviewed “with human face”.
Other lawmakers including Hassan
Abdullahi from Kogi state also endorsed the call to lift the ban which he
described as “very draconian”.
“Many Nigerians are suffering
from this directive and it is very absurd that an agency of government can add
to the difficulty of Nigerians after shutting the boarder,” he added.
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