The Senate yesterday summoned the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, over the scarcity of petrol in the country.

Kachikwu who is also the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is expected to appear before the committee on Petroleum (Downstream) today.

The chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano North) disclosed the invitation after inspecting petrol stations in Abuja yesterday.

He said they cut short their Easter break following the outcry over scarcity of the commodity across the country

Expressing concern over the lingering scarcity, Barau who led members of his committee, said the senate would take a decision on the matter after Kachikwu’s appearance.

“The head of the Ministry of Petroleum is Mr. President. We will hear from Kachikwu before we take a decision on it.

As I said earlier, anything to do with the petroleum ministry, we have to be careful because the president is the minister, ” he said.

He said after appearing before the committee, the petroleum minister would meet with the senate president.

Also speaking, Senator Philip Aduda (PDP, FCT) challenged the federal government to end the fuel scarcity.

“The APC government must ensure that fuel is available for all. Let the APC continue to blame themselves, we must ensure that we find a solution to this problem. Enough of all the blame games,” he said.

There was a mild drama during the inspection of the petrol stations as black marketers besieged the lawmakers.

The black marketers mistook the lawmakers for prospective customers when they alighted from their exotic cars.

Speaking to the senators, a black marketer, Dahiru Sale, said they were getting their supply from filling stations at N150 per litre.

” This is why 10 litres goes for N2,500 because, we must make profit, “he told the lawmakers.