Akinpelu Dada and ’Femi Asu
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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