Journalists call on NNPCL to establish infrastructures in C’River

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has been called upon to establish more facilities in Cross River State for the benefit of the people.

Journalists who made the call in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, have also appealed to the firm to sponsor them on training on energy reporting and allied beats.

In her remarks, the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists NUJ, in the State, Archibong Bassey called for a more robust collaboration between the NNPCL and the media especially in the area of information dissemination

Journalists from different media houses in the state, national correspondents as well as Head of the NNPCL media team, Solomon Oseagah, met in Calabar, to rub minds on the high costs of living as a result of incessant hikes in petroleum products.

They called on NNPCL to adopt a more proactive approach to information sharing.

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They lamented that the lackadaisical attitude in dispensing information has led to speculations, suspicion and criticisms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The media practitioners described NNPC as a child of circumstance, taking flaks from Nigerians for other government agencies because of a lack of appropriate information.

Oseagah said he was in the state to draw a line between fact and fiction regarding what people think NNPC is and what the company stands for.

According to him, it was wrong for people to conclude that NNPCL was the cause of hikes in the price of petrol.

He explained that the company, though owned by the government, is a limited liability like other key players in the sector, and does not have the power to dictate Nigeria’s prices of petroleum products.

“The issue is all about the energy sector and correcting the negative perception of the NNPCL. There is a body regulating NNPCL. NNPCL is not responsible for fuel price hikes or scarcity in the country.

“We are here to build relationships with journalists in Cross River. We are not here to say the NNPCL is right or wrong but we must separate the truth from fiction; which is what people think NNPC is versus what it is,” Oseagah said.