- Economic activities crippled, commuters stranded
- NNPCL not supplying us products – Oil marketers
- Black marketers sell at ₦1000, ₦1200 per litre
- Fuel crisis is a disgrace – Analyst
Despite weekend assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, fuel scarcity in the country got worse on Monday, crippling economic activities.
Motorists queued for hours and some had to pass the night at filling stations in search of petrol.
Following the scarcity, few vehicles that were plying the road jerked up their fares.
The fuel scarcity inflicted pain on commuters who were left stranded at major bus stops and motor parks, while fares were increased to some destinations.
NNPC spokesman Olufemi Soneye had in a statement on Thursday emphasized that the prices of petroleum products were not changing, while also clarifying that the tightness in supply experienced in some parts of the country, as a result of logistics issues, has been resolved.
However, as of Monday morning, our correspondents witnessed a surge in the number of vehicle queues at filling stations in parts of Lagos State, with prices as high as ₦700 per litre.
The same situation was reported in Abuja, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Akure, Kaduna, Kano, Benue, Sokoto, and other parts of the country, as motorists grappled with the skyrocketing fuel prices.
While prices have surged to about ₦700 per litre and above at filling stations belonging to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigerian, few owned by the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria sell at around ₦610 per litre and above.
NNPCL stations were selling at ₦568 per litre.
Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, had said, “The situation is that there is no product. Once there is a lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations.”
Our correspondents, who monitored the situation since the weekend, noticed that many stations were under lock and key. Most filling stations along the entire stretch from Berger through Ikeja, Ogba, to Agege, didn’t welcome customers.
Only a handful of stations along the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, from Oshodi to Tollgate, sold products, thereby attracting longer queues even with prices over ₦700 per litre.
The situation, in turn, prompted black marketers to peddle the product to desperate motorists at exorbitant rates of up to ₦1000 to ₦1200 per litre.
In Apapa, Ikotun, Surulere, Ketu, Victoria Island and others where filling stations were selling, the queues were long, stretching onto the roads and causing gridlock.
An attendant at a filling station in Bariga, Lagos, said the station had not sold petrol for the past three days, as tanks were dry and queues were mounting because they could not load products from the depot after exhausting the ones they had in their reserve.
Some of the petrol stations have increased their pump price from the official price of N600 per litre to N800 and above.
In some stations, dealers sold PMS between N700 per litre and N900 per litre, saying the ex-depot price of the product has increased to N650 per litre.
Those selling black market near NNPC depot at Ejigbo area of Lagos had a field day. Some of them were selling a litre between N800 and N900.
Our correspondents also reported that the scarcity also hit Rivers, Imo, Abia, Sokoto, Ogun, Edo, Ebonyi, Niger, Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau States, among others.
At the NNPC mega filling station on Olusegun Obasanjo Way, Central Area, Abuja, long queues of vehicles were on three lanes blocking the entire road and forcing motorists to drive against the traffic.
The chaotic situation was also the same at the Forte Oil, adjacent to the NNPC mega station, where the queue stretched to the UAC fence.
The Conoil and Total filling stations opposite NNPC headquarters delayed selling until afternoon, with the queues of hundreds of motorists who had passed the previous nights, forming circles.
The circles stretched from the stations through the Bureau of Statistics Complex, to the Unity Bank building, and back to NNPC towers.
NNPCL not supplying us products – Oil marketers
Meanwhile, oil marketers under the aegis of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria have laid the blame on the fresh fuel scarcity on the doorstep of the National Petroleum Company Limited.
The President of the association Billy Gillis-Harry, while appearing on a live television programme on Monday, accused the major oil supplier in the country of not supplying them with the product.
“NNPC has its own outlets that they also serve. So, if they have some logistics issues that will possibly be what is internal to NNPC. But as for us, PETROAN members, we can tell Nigerians for real that if we have petroleum products delivered to us, supplied to us upon payment for those same products, we will supply them to Nigerians.
“I would like to correct Nigerians that we retail outlet owners or marketers as they generally call all of us are not the reason for this. We do not have any reason not to serve the public and we are willing to serve the public. All that is required is for us to have petroleum products delivered to us from NNPC and we will make sure that our retail outlets are open; some of them are even open for 24 hours.
“The challenge of logistics is only relevant to the NNPC retail outlets.”
Fuel crisis is a disgrace – Analyst
In the same vein, the Executive Director of Citizens Advocacy for Social Economic Rights, Frank Tietie, has said it is disgraceful for Nigeria to be facing the Premium Motor Spirit crisis.
Tietie said he was surprised, shocked, and deeply embarrassed by the ongoing fuel scarcity in Nigeria when he featured on a live television programme on Monday.
He stressed that the purpose of subsidy removal for efficient petroleum supplies has not been achieved as there were long queues everywhere.
“I am surprised, shocked and highly embarrassed that this is happening after all the much talked about subsidy removal to ensure efficiency in the supplies of petroleum products.
“It is highly disgraceful that this is happening after a certain explanation by the NNPCL that the queues and shortage of PMS were a result of logistics problems. What a nebulous way to take Nigerians for granted. Whether it is logistics associated with lack of trucking facilities or anything that has to do with transportation,” he said.
He lamented that people were hawking fuel in Jerri cans in front of establishments like Transport Hilton and NNPCL in Abuja despite the scarcity in legal filling stations.
This, he said, demonstrated the inefficiency of the NNPCL and the regulatory authority responsible for ensuring stock availability.
He also criticized their negligence towards national security and job security for officials while taking Nigerians for granted.
“The resilience of Nigerians will always be considered something to be abused when you simply say logistics and nothing happens when it is four days after the so-called logistics problem.
“There is scarcity and queues are everywhere. In fact, one of the most embarrassing things you can experience is that in front of the NNPCL in Abuja, you will see people hawking petrol in Jerri cans. Another very terrible scene is the situation where one of Nigeria’s foremost hotels that hosts many International conferences, Transcorp Hilton, right in front of Hilton advertising to the world, you will see all of these persons hawking petrol in plastic Jerri cans,” he added.
Despite the logistics problem highlighted as a factor responsible for the scarcity of fuel, Tietie said there is enough fuel for sale in the black market.
He added that the NNPCL has not been efficient in discharging its role.
“Does it mean that these ruffians have a way of solving logistic problems more than the NNPCL?
Somehow, this must stop because we must stop this idea of making our country a laughing stock.
“It all sounds like a joke because you said there are queues everywhere and when you go to the front of the Hilton, you will see some people hawking petrol. You go to the front of NNPCL, well it is understandable that you have two major petrol stations in front of the NNPCL headquarters and you will see street urchins hawking fuel.
“This is a result of clear inefficiency on the part of the NNPCL this time. It probably extends to the authorities- the Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. They are supposed to be responsible for ensuring that there is some measure of stock in storage,” he stated.
Their negligence, he said, endangers national security.
“What this means is that this authority and NNPCL are toying with Nigerian security. When you cannot guarantee for days the supply of PMS that is the mainstay of your national economy then it’s clear you are taking for granted the national security. That is the reason why the president is not calling them to order.
“Whereas we don’t have energy security, we have job security for the officials of the NNPC and NNPDRA and that’s the reason we continue to have it not minding what Nigerians are going through,” Tietie added.
Speaking further, Tietie said he was disappointed in the government for allowing such a situation to persist in a major oil-producing country like Nigeria.
He stressed that refineries in Nigeria would not function due to the benefits it give to a certain establishment class.
He added, “We all know that it is for certain mysterious reasons that refineries have refused to work whereas we understand it benefits a certain establishment class in this country that the refineries won’t and will never work no matter the commitment of any of the administrations whether it was Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari or the current administration of Bola Tinubu.
“The refineries won’t work. Everybody is expecting the Dangote refinery to kick off so we can have a measure of the availability of PMS. We run a country in such a manner that takes the people for granted and we will now see people run the government and states without any sense of responsibility and shame.
“How can we as a major oil-producing country in the world have this kind of situation? And then we have an NNPCL that wants to pride itself that it is competing with a certain Saudi ARAMCO whereas it cannot provide any form of energy security for its country.
“In fact the NNPCL is supposed to be a fallback in terms of energy security meaning that it takes pride in being the sole importer of petroleum products. Why should we even be importing petroleum products in the first place? And if we must import, it will be to cater to issues of unnecessary disruption if ever we go to war, for example, not a norm that we should constantly have this uncertainty.
“Those who are running NNPCL should foresee any disruption problem that is about to come and the NNDPRA should have enough stock. What these guys are doing is just making a laughing stock of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.”
