Fuel scarcity is biting harder in several states across the country. The commercial city of Lagos is one of the most hit as most petroleum stations are shut while a few others who sell have inflated their prices.

 

 

It is common sight to find long queues in the few filing stations still dispensing the product in Lagos metropolis and other states in the country

 

Webteam@Ipledge2nigeria learned that independent marketers and some major marketers who were seen selling fuel sell it as high as between N800 – N900 per litre.

 

 

A commercial bus driver Ayodele lamented that to enable him work he has to buy fuel from black market at a very exorbitant price as he can’t afford the luxury queuing for five six hours to buy from filing stations.

 

In the ancient city of Kano the situation is not different as most of the petroleum stations have been shut down, few filing stations still dispensing the product in the state.

 

Independent marketers and some major marketers who were seen selling fuel sell it as high as between N850 – N900 per litre.

 

Most of the filling stations selling the fuel are doing so amidst crowded and rowdy atmosphere.

 

A motorist, Jabir Mustapha described the situation as unfortunate, especially that the petroleum product cost high but yet was unavailable.

 

 

“The last fuel in my car was bought N680 per liter some weeks back only for me to go back to buy another fuel and was told N850. And the unfortunate thing was it almost got to my turn on the queue when it finished. The situation is unfortunate, especially that the petroleum product costs high but is still unavailable.

 

 

“I had no option than to buy from the black marketers at the cost of N1,200 per liter,” he stated.

 

 

Meanwhile, black marketers have taken advantage of the situation to make brisk business as they sell a liter at N1,200.

 

The situation is similar in Osun State as residents in the State have lamented over the increasing scarcity of fuel which leads to a hike in prices of transportation within the state. Residents of Osogbo, the State capital, trekked several kilometres on Saturday and Sunday as commercial drivers do not have fuel to run services while those that managed to get fuel increased transport fares. The popular mini buses in the state capital, (known as Korope) have increased transport fare from the average N150 per drop to N200. While few commercial motorcyclists have also increased their charges on the ground that filling stations in the state now sell at over N700 per litre.

 

 

Olayinka Ibrahim, Chairman Federation of Informal Workers Association of Nigeria, FIWON, disclosed that the scarcity is hurting businesses as many filling stations closed their outlets while those selling products adjusted their prices above the approved prices.

 

 

“The people are really suffering; many residents across Osun have to resort to trekking long distances as commercial drivers do not have fuel to provide services. Those that managed to get fuel got it at exorbitant prices, hence, they have also increased transport fares per bus stop”, he said.

 

Checks around Abuja on Sunday showed that most stations were out of stock with very few major marketers dispensing the product in Abuja city centre. At the suburbs, the few stations opened to motorists jacked up their pump price from N680 per litre to N870 per litre.

 

Speaking on the situation, the Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike said the product was not available in-country.

 

Chief Ukadike blamed the acute shortage in supply of importation bottlenecks and the slow pace of marketers licence renewal by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.

 

He disclosed that only 1,050 marketers out of 15,000 have had their licences renewed by the NMDPRA.

 

He said: “The situation is that there is no product. Once there is lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations. On the part of NNPCL, which is the sole supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, they have attributed the challenge to logistics and vessel problems.

 

 

“Once there is a breach in the international supply chain, it will have an impact on domestic supply because we depend on import. I also have it on good authority that most of the refineries in Europe are undergoing turn around maintenance. So sourcing petroleum products has become a bit difficult.

 

 

“NNPC Group CEO has assured us that there will be improvement in the supply chain because their vessels are arriving. Once that is done, normalcy will return. This is because once the 30 days supply sufficiency is distrusted, it takes two to three months to restore it. We expect that by next week or so, NNPC should be able to restore supply and within another one week, normalcy should return”.