The Senate on Tuesday urged the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to urgently lift the restriction on the supply of Petrol within 20 kilometres radius of communities bordering other countries around the country.
This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance by Senator Solomon Adeola (APC- Ogun West).
He said that smuggling the product to the border communities and later transferring it to neighbouring countries contributed to the fuel subsidy crisis that the nation had been struggling with for a long time.
He noted that the restriction placed on the supply of the product to the border communities due to the smuggling of the product across the border to the neighbouring countries is no longer justified considering that the fuel subsidy has been removed.
According to him, the continued restriction is causing double problems to the communities with no product supplies while their businesses are collapsing due to the high price of the product that they have to travel far to procure for domestic and business purposes.
In its resolution, the Senate urged the Comptroller General of the NCS and the NSA to lift the subsisting restriction order placed on the petroleum product supply to the affected border communities.
According to the upper chamber, the removal of subsidy by the Nigerian government has substantially put paid to the smuggling of PMS; therefore, the products should be allowed to circulate freely without restrictions.
