Eleven months after the federal government removed fuel subsidy and opened up the market for competition, Nigerians are still grappling with the harsh realities of fuel scarcity and long queues at petrol stations across the country.
By NSE Anthony - Uko, Igho Oyoyo, Chika Izuora, Olamide Ojuokaiye, Isaiah Benjamin, Aza Msue, Nonye Ekwenugo, Francis Okoye, Emmanuel Mgheahurike, Nnamdi Mbawike and Adebayo Waheed
However, the NNPCL has for several months now returned to being the sole importer of petrol in Nigeria, as private oil firms are unable to obtain foreign currency for importation Prices of petrol on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway communities before Berger seem to remain the same though most filling stations visited were shut.
"The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited wishes to clarify that the tightness in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit currently being experienced in some areas across the country is as a result of logistics issues and that they have been resolved. Our visit to some depots in Lagos showed that loading was ongoing but not as much as it was in the past.
Speaking on the cause of the scarcity, the national president of IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, said that the NNPCL had just met with the association and assured them of enough supply of petroleum. Last week the NNPC Limited said tight supply witnessed in some filling stations in Lagos was as a result of an issue in one of the depots in the area. The NNPC Retail Limited has since resolved the issue and effective tomorrow, normalcy will be restored within the affected area, Soneye said.
Also, at A. A. Rano filling stations at Jabi, and along Kubwa express road, which were selling at N690 per litre, the queues were not as long as that of Conoil which was selling at N660 per litre. Some of the fuel stations sold for between N690 and N700 per litre while in some fuel stations the product sold for as much as N1,000 per litre.
A bus driver, who identified himself as Abdul, disclosed that on Wednesday he bought the product at N900 and N1,000 per litre at the black market when he observed that some of the fuel stations were shut. When LEADERSHIP Friday inquired from one of the filling stations why the sudden increase, the manager who craved anonymity said the pump price was previously N730 per litre, but after exhausting the old commodity, they could not get fuel until the present one they bought at N740 per litre, hence they are selling at N780 per litre.
The unofficial story is that the fuel stations are expecting a fall in the price of the product but are not sure of the exact price. They wouldn't want to purchase it and the price be reduced to avoid loss. Almost all filling stations in the state had the product and there were no queues in the various stations. This could be attributed to the exorbitant price of petrol.
"There is no country that can survive on palliative economy which Nigeria is currently operating," he declared.
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