The Forty-eight-hour ultimatum by the Department of State Services (DSS) to stakeholders in the oil sector to end the persisting petrol scarcity across the country failed to bring sanity into Nigeria’s troubled petroleum industry even as the scarcity continued.
The DSS, at a meeting with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) and Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) on Thursday, gave the stakeholders a 48-hour ultimatum to end the fuel scarcity to avert incitement or security breach in the country.
Even as the stakeholders agreed to work to resolve the crisis, as of Monday long queues were yet to disappear in major cities across the country making black marketers have a field day, selling the commodity for as much as N350 per litre.
Relative ease prevailed in Lagos and Abuja, but prices of petrol range between N200 to N220 per litre. In Lagos, fuel queues are disappearing, but the price in some places ranged from N200 to N220 per litre.
According to Daily Trust, major marketers like Mobil at Isolo sold the product for N169/N170 while some independent marketers in Lagos sold a litre for as high as N230, N270 and N320.
In the City Centre of Abuja, queues eased as major fuel stations sold for N180 yesterday but had persisted in the suburbs, such as Lugbe and Kubwa.
In Kano State, most filling stations did not dispense petrol yesterday. The few stations that had the product sold it for N310 a litre. Other stations in the state sold a litre for N280 to N290.
In Lokoja, Kogi State, motorists were seen on long queues at fuel stations; while in Kaduna and Jos, major fuel stations were not dispensing.
In Kaduna, most stations were also not selling the product.
As the pertrol crisis continues, Oil marketers said have insisted market forces could improve the situation along with strong supply and price control mechanisms.
The chairman of the Northern Independent Petroleum Marketers Forum, Musa Yahaya Maikifi, said the private depot price was above N200, prompting marketers to sell above the rate in Kano and other states.
Reacting to the DSS’ ultimatum, Maikifi said it was a good step towards resolving the crisis.
“Provided we’re not refining the fuel in our country and the NNPC is using dollars to import the fuel, we cannot end the fuel crisis in Nigeria,” he further stated.
The chairman, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Olumide Adeosun, urged the federal government to dialogue and negotiate with citizens on the implementation of price deregulation.
“Having subsidized Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol for so long, Nigerian institutions now have a diminished capacity to deal with the current local energy crisis. Disruption in any part of the supply chain causes ripple effects and results in queues at stations,” he said.
Meanwhile, a source at the DSS headquarters, yesterday revealed that “overt and covert operations” had begun.
“We’ve been gathering intelligence on the subject matter since last Thursday. The moment we get any destructive tendency, such person(s) will pay dearly for that.
“Our DG is committed to getting rid of the elements that can jeopardize the security of this nation,” the source said.
