TheCable

Protesters, on Thursday, blocked the Lagos-Benin expressway at Oluku junction in response to the hike in petrol litre price and the scarcity of the product.

Motorists and passengers, who were left stranded for hours, expressed dissatisfaction over the situation.

The protesters, many of them youths, lamented the hike in petrol price as well its unavailability.

The development comes less than 72 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari approved the setup of a 14-member steering committee on petroleum products supply and distribution management.

The constitution of the committee was announced on Tuesday in a statement signed by Horatius Egua, senior adviser (media and communications) to Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources.

Sylva will serve as the alternate chairman, while Buhari is the chair of the steering committee.

Other members of the committee are Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance; Gabriel Aduda, permanent secretary, ministry of petroleum resources; Doyin Salami, national economic adviser to the president; and Yusuf Bichi, director-general, Department of State Services (DSS).

Committee members also include Hameed Ali, comptroller-general of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS); Abdulrasheed Bawa, chairperson, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); and Ahmed Audi, commandant-general, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer (CEO), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA); Godwin Emefiele, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited; and Umar Farouk, senior special assistant to Sylva, are also in the committee.

Meanwhile, despite the disparity in pump prices at filling stations, the federal government has denied increasing the price of petrol.