Nigerians face the challenges of a bleak yuletide as queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, which were gradually abating in recent past suddenly re-surfaced in major cities such as Abuja, Lagos and some state capitals on Wednesday.
The situation has started taking a toll on commuters as transporters have hiked fares.
It was gathered that many depots were currently running out of the product, a development that reduced supplies from depots to retail stations across the country, The PUNCH reported.
In Abuja, many filling stations, particularly those of independent oil marketers, remained closed due to lack of products, while the few outlets of major marketers that dispensed petrol started witnessing queues from mid-day till evening on Wednesday.
The Conoil and Total filling stations located directly opposite the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited witnessed queues on Wednesday afternoon till evening.
Similarly, a filling station opposite Transcorp Hilton Hotel in the Federal Capital Territory started witnessing massive queues in the evening, despite the fact that the gates of the outlet were shut to motorists, as attendants at the station tried to offload a fuel tanker.
Oil marketers told The PUNCH reporter that the brief period when the queues cleared was basically due to the intervention of the Department of State Services after the DSS ordered the NNPCL to address the situation.
They stated that the order to the NNPCL and marketers made the national oil company to release large volumes of the product but stressed that this only addressed the fuel crisis briefly.
The Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, said there was still PMS supply shortfall from the NNPCL, stressing that the re-emerging queues in Lagos, Abuja and other cities had revealed this.
He said the NNPCL was focusing on city centres of Abuja and Lagos, while neglecting areas that were far away from cities, adding that aside from queues in these areas, the cost of petrol in those locations was higher than N200/litre.
Shuaibu said, “There’s a shortfall in supply but the NNPCL will be telling you not to panic, and that they have products when we cannot see them. Look at our depots, our tanks are empty.
“No petroleum marketer that used his money or borrowed money from the bank to build and invest in a filling station will lock up his station at the end of the day without any cogent reason.”
Asked whether depots in Abuja were empty, for instance, the Suleja Depot, Shuaibu replied, “It is. Any product you see today that comes through the Suleja Depot is by bridging.
“And when you go down south, you’ll be buying from depot owners at a high price. That is why the NNPCL should be held responsible. It should explain why the product is not in circulation.”
It was observed that the situation had yet to abate in Lagos as motorists were seen in long queues at filling stations.
Oil marketers told The PUNCH in Lagos that private depot owners kept increasing prices, as petrol was currently sold to filling stations at more than N200/litre depending on the arrangement with each retail outlet.
“Our members don’t have products because NNPCL is not giving us. But for those who have, they go to private depots to buy for over N200/litre, depending on individual arrangement,” the Chairman, IPMAN Satellite depot, Akin Akinrinade, had told The PUNCH.
The association recently issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government over price disparities, as regards the amount which products were being sold to its members and members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria.
Akinrinnade revealed that MOMAN members and depot owners were buying directly from NNPCL at the regulated price of N148/litre, while IPMAN members had to buy from private depots for N220/litre.
Our correspondent observed that filling stations belonging to NNPCL dispensed petrol at N169/litre, members of MOMAN sold theirs at N170/litre, while IPMAN members were selling at about N250/litre depending on the location.
It was observed that many motorists and other fuel users scrambled to get fuel at N169/litre from NNPCL retail stations, thereby worsening traffic gridlock on the expressway.
