Vice president Yemi Osinbajo makes flying visit to Forcados Terminal to inspect repairs

VICE president Professor Yemi Osinbajo has visited Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State in the company of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to inspect the vandalised Forcados Terminal currently under repair. 

 

Nigeria is currently in the throes of a chronic petrol shortage due to the inability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to meet domestic demand. This has been brought by a combination of limited capacity, a shortage of foreign exchange to purchase imports and widespread pipeline vandalism.

 

Across Delta State, many of the oil facilities are either in a state of disrepair or are reeling from the effects of acts of sabotage. In the case of the Forcados terminal, it is believed to have been damaged by Niger Delta militants who blew it up in protest at the arrest warrant issued against one of the leaders Government Tompolo.

 

In a desperate bid to get production back to normal, President Muhammadu Buhari's administration is stepping up work at the terminal and at the country's three refineries. Yesterday, Professor Osinbajo made a brief stopover at the Osubi Airstrip in Delta State and then drove to Forcados to inspect work at the facility.

 

His visit is coming on the heels of similar ones by relevant committees of the National Assembly and a federal government delegation. Earlier this week, President Buhari vowed to deal with pipeline vandals the way Boko Haram extremists are currently being dealt with in the northeast of the country.