The recent fuel shortage has halted numerous economic activities across states in the Federation.
By Musa Ibrahim, Abuja
On Monday, drivers in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, and other parts of Nigeria found themselves stuck as a new shortage of petrol gripped the nation. This led to extensive lines at gas stations nationwide, with illegal sellers offering the fuel for prices ranging from N1,200 to N2,000 per liter.
The recent fuel shortage has halted numerous economic activities across states in the Federation, with Nigerians lining up at gas stations nationwide.
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While some drivers managed to secure fuel at select outlets for prices ranging from N700 to N1,200 per liter after enduring long waits and competition, others were less fortunate, encountering closed retail outlets citing supply challenges.
Serpentine queues at filling stations in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kano, Benue, and other areas have exacerbated traffic congestion, with lengthy lines spilling onto major roads and impeding vehicular movement. This has left thousands stranded at bus stops, facing doubled transport fares compared to previous rates.
Meanwhile, marketers have attributed the recent shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly referred to as petrol, to a supply issue from the country’s primary oil supplier, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited.
Billy Gillis-Harry, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), conveyed this information on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief breakfast programme.
Last Thursday, NNPC spokesman, Olufemi Soneye, said 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”.
The NNPC further emphasized that there would be no changes in the prices of petroleum products and encouraged Nigerians to refrain from panic buying, assuring them that the country had an ample supply of the product.
Yet, Billy Gillis-Harry, the head of PETROAN, remarked that the supply issue remains unresolved, despite acknowledging the NNPC’s efforts to address the problem.
Gillis-Harry said, “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, supply to us upon payment for those same products, we will supply to Nigerians.
“I would like to correct Nigerians that we retail outlet owners or marketers as they generally call all of us is 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.
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