Nonye Ben-Nwankwo, Fisayo Falodi, Okechukwu Nnodim and Ademola Olonilua
The ongoing nationwide fuel scarcity
seems to have become worsened as many Nigerians marked the Good Friday
at filling stations trying to buy petrol.
Christians all over the country celebrated the Passion of Christ, also known as Good Friday, yesterday.
In many parts of the country, long
queues of motorists dotted a few filling stations that were selling
petrol, with the motorists complaining that the scarcity was biting
harder on them.
Many of them, who spoke to our
correspondents at about 2.30pm, said they had been queuing at the
filling stations since 5am on Friday.
A bank worker, who simply gave his name
as Thompson, told one of our correspondents at a filling station in
Egbeda area of Lagos State that he had been moving from one filling
station to the other with the hope of getting petrol since he closed at
work on Thursday evening.
He, alongside other motorists, said the
purpose for which Friday was declared public holiday was defeated
because they had spent the greater part of the day at filling stations
trying to buy fuel.
One of them, Mr. Tayo Olaniyan, said he
had been to five different filling stations to buy petrol and that none
of them had fuel.
Olaniyan said, “Even some of the fuel
stations that used to have fuel before now no longer have. It seems the
situation has gone worse after the minister’s statement.”
A motorist in a queue to buy petrol at
an NNPC station along Ogunnusi Road, Ikeja, Lagos, Mr. Gbenga Adewole,
said he had to get to the station at about 5am on Friday to stand a good
chance of getting the product.
“Since today is public holiday, I
decided to get here very early and despite that, I still met a lot of
vehicles here,” he said.
Also, on the Otedola Estate and Berger
ends of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Mobil, Capital Oil and Oando
filling stations had long queues of desperate motorists and other
customers, which spilled onto the road and caused gridlock.
There were fewer queues in most filling
stations along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, particularly at Ibafo, Asese
and Arepo areas in Ogun State, but it was observed that the filling
stations sold petrol for N150 per litre as against the approved N86.5
pump price.
In Kwara State, hundreds of motorists
decried the worsening fuel scarcity. The motorists told one of our
correspondents at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
mega-station at Asa Dam, Ilorin, that they had spent over eight hours
in the queue hoping to buy fuel, when they should be enjoying their
public holiday with their families.
One of the motorists, Alhaji Kale
Abdullahi, said he had stayed at the petrol station from 6am till 2.30pm
trying to see if he could buy petrol.
Another motorist, Alhaji Salmatu Ajayi,
said she had hoped to take her children to amusement park and visit some
family members since Friday was public holiday, but the many hours
spent at a filling station had disrupted her plan.
The story was the same on Friday at the
Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and neighbouring Nasarawa and Kaduna
states as motorists spent several hours in the queues that stretched
several kilometres.
The development left hundreds of passengers stranded at various bus stops.
In many parts of Nasarawa and Kaduna
states, the few petrol stations that had product dispensed the commodity
at rates far higher than the official pump price.
Despite the fact that the petrol stations sold petrol at over N150 per litre, hundreds of motorists still patronised them.
The current fuel scarcity took a turn
for the worse on Thursday, a day after Kachikwu said despite the efforts
being made by the Federal Government, fuel queues would not completely
disappear until May.
Industry stakeholders had described the
statement as “unfortunate and unsettling,” as it fuelled panic buying
and raised the prospect of hoarding by some marketers who would want to
profiteer from the current situation.
One of our correspondents gathered that
most of the independent marketers’ depots in Apapa, Lagos, did not have
any petroleum products, while few only had Dual Purpose Kerosene and
Automotive Gas Oil (diesel).
An industry source said that the
independent marketers were not being given products by the Pipelines and
Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the NNPC.
The source said, “There is a scheming
now that as much as possible, products should be given to the majors.
That has been on since two weeks ago. That’s why you will hardly find
other depots, that are not owned by the majors that have products here
in Apapa.”
The National Operation Controller,
Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Mike
Osatuyi, said in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents,
“The problem is that there is no supply, and it is as a result of bad
planning by PPMC, NNPC and by extension, the Federal Government.
“We are a country and we know what we
consume in a day and if you know that, and you can’t project or plan for
it, it means you are a failure. We have said it several times that the
NNPC cannot do it alone because it does not have the facilities.
“I am just coming from Abuja now and the
queues are very long. I saw queues that formed zero for the first time
in front of a petrol station.”
The Chairman and Managing Director,
Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, had on Wednesday, said,
“People are no longer buying the normal quantity. Some people want to
buy and keep; so, the demand has gone up artificially during this
period. But at the same time, the supply is not necessarily available
and then it takes time to order the fuel, maybe about six to eight weeks
between your order and when it comes.”
Residents of Jos and Bukuru metropolis
could not enjoy the holiday as they had to be in queues stretching as
far as three kilometres at some filling stations.
No comments:
Post a Comment