The scarcity of petrol got worse in many parts of the country on Monday
despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that the
situation would improve.
Lagos, which traditionally receives more product than other parts of
the country, was virtually grounded on Monday as only few vehicles moved about,
with many passengers stranded at bus stops, while queues of desperate motorists
stretched for kilometres at the few filling stations that had the product to
sell, and partially blocked major roads.
The same situation was recorded
in the Federal Capital Territory, Osogbo, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Minna, Maiduguri,
Bauchi, Ado Ekiti and Benin City, among others.
At most filling stations
belonging to independent marketers, a litre of the product sold for between
N120 and N200 instead of the N86 and N86.50 official pump prices, while black
market hawkers sold it for as high as N400 per litre.
Many commuters were seen in
Lagos struggling to get commercial vehicles to different destinations, even as
some transport operators increased the fares by 100 per cent or more.
On the Otedola Estate and Berger
end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Mobil, Capital Oil and Oando filling
stations had longer queues of desperate motorists and other customers, which
spilled onto the road and caused a serious gridlock.
The long queues at the filling
stations forced many motorists to resort to the black marketers, who were
having a field day as they sold the product at exorbitant prices.
Our correspondent gathered that
most of the independent marketers’ depots in Apapa did not have petrol on
Monday, while few had kerosene and Automotive Gas Oil (diesel).
Out of the 36 depots surveyed,
only Capital Oil, Folawiyo and Heyden were said to have petrol, while MRS was
still expecting its vessel.
Aiteo, Acorn, Nipco Plc,
Fatgbems, Aiteo, Sahara, Techno, Zenon, Stallionire, Gulf Treasure, Global
Fleet, Honeywell, Obat, Eurafic, Rahamaniyya, Index and other depots did not
have petrol to load.
A commuter, Jumoke Awe, said she
bought a litre of petrol for N300 on the black market on her way to Palmgrove
from Ajah, but had to park her car somewhere along the Lekki-Ajah Expressway so
as to take a commercial bus due to the attendant gridlock.
When asked if there was any new
development in terms of supply, the National Operation Controller, Independent
Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, said the supply
had not really improved.
“We are expecting the ships to
come; when the ships come and they discharge, we will start loading. We are
expecting that any moment from now, the ships will be arriving, based on what
the NNPC said. But it will take some days before the vessels will clear,” he
said.
Another source, who is an
official of an independent marketer, said “There is no new development today
(Monday). Some of the vessels that the government promised to bring in have yet
to come. They promised to bring two vessels last week, but only one came on
Thursday, and it started discharging on Saturday, and is still discharging now.
“One of the vessel’s areas has
been cleared now. So, we are expecting that they will bring one overnight if
they are going to keep to their promise. There is a gentleman’s agreement now
that until this problem abates, no other product vessel should come into the
Apapa jetty.”
The National President,
Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Igwe Achese, said members
of the union were ready to work with the NNPC to ensure effective distribution
of fuel to filling stations.
He, however, said the NNPC
needed to meet the conditions the union earlier discussed with its management.
While speaking at the Central
Working Committee meeting of the Joe Ajaero’s faction of the Nigeria Labour
Congress in Lagos on Monday, Achese highlighted challenges that the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources needed to address to include the passage of the Petroleum
Industry Bill, building of new refineries and prevention of gas pipeline vandalism.
“While removing subsidy, our
refineries must work because we cannot continue to import. With the prices of
crude oil in the international market, it is difficult for any nation to
sustain the payment of subsidy to any importer of petroleum products,” Achese
said.
In Oyo State, a litre of fuel
was selling for between N180 and N200, while black market rate was between N250
and N300.
There were few vehicles plying
the roads in the state capital on Monday, while the small number of transport
operators on the road charged exorbitant fares.
Many prominent markets like
those at Dugbe, Aleshinloye and Gbagi were nearly deserted because traders
decided to stay indoors and buyers seemed to have postponed shopping till the
situation normalises.
Residents of Bauchi metropolis
lamented the unending hardship they are facing as the scarcity of petrol become
worse.
One of our correspondents, who
went round some filling stations in the state capital, observed that the
product was not available.
Most of the filling stations
visited were under lock and key, while black marketeers continued making brisk
business by selling the product for between N250 and N300 per litre.
In Minna, Niger State, the
situation has forced the Department of Petroleum Resources to relax its crackdown
on independent marketers who are now selling the product for between N220 and
N260 per litre.
The State Controller, DPR, Mr.
Abdullahi Jankara, said the agency had decided to allow independent marketers
to sell the product at their own prices because of its non-availability in
order to reduce the hardship being faced by the people.
The fuel crisis in Borno and
Yobe states got worse on Monday as petrol sold for between N250 and N300 on the
black market.
There was virtually no place to
buy at the right price other than the NNPC mega stations where it could take
two or three days to get.
One of our correspondents
reported that the fuel situation in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, and other
towns in the state had not improved.
It was observed that many filling
stations were shut on Monday because of non-availability of the product, while
the few ones that had sold a litre of petrol for between N180 and N200.
The NNPC mega station in Osogbo
sold at the official price of N86 but the queues at the station were about two
kilometres long.
Motorists in queue at the
station were disorderly until a team of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence
Corps led by the state Commandant, Mr. Olusola Ayodele, came to restore sanity.
Many civil servants in Ekiti
State have abandoned their cars for public transport due to the fuel scarcity.
A litre of petrol sold for N200
at filling stations in Ado Ekiti, while a commercial driver told our
correspondent that it sold for N230 in the hinterlands.
In Edo State, the lingering fuel
scarcity worsened on Monday, as a litre of petrol sold for N230 at the few
filing stations that sold the product to hundreds of desperate motorists.
On the black market, it sold for
between N250 and N300 per litre, while some black marketeers insisted on selling
to only customers willing to buy five litres and above.
In Ogun State, transport fares
on most of the routes had increased by between 50 and 150 per cent.
Commuters paid between N600 and
N700 from Sango to Abeokuta, a journey that hitherto attracted between N250 and
N300.
However, queues by motorists and
other petrol seekers reduced marginally on Monday as more filling stations
dispensed fuel in Abuja and parts of Nasarawa State.
The largest mega filling station
belonging to the NNPC, located on the Kubwa-Zuba Expressway, had lesser number
of motorists when compared to what obtained all through last week.
Officials at the Department of
Petroleum Resources and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources stated that
the number of trucks from the Suleja depot to Abuja and environs had increased.
According to them, more filling
stations received the product on Monday, as they expressed the hope that the
situation would improve by the day.
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