Mr Godwin had left his house in phase 4, Kubwa, a satellite town in the federal capital territory with the intention of refueling his car in one of the filling stations in phase 2, alas, it was not to be as the long queues was enough to tell him that it would be practical impossible to buy fuel as he had to be in the office.
He was still hopeful that before he gets to his office at the Central Business Area, he would see a filling station that was selling fuel. But again, he was disappointed as many that he passed were not selling.
“I couldn’t join the queue to buy fuel because that will mean not going to work for that day, which was not possible,” he told Blueprint.
Godwin’s experience captures what the average motorist is going through.
A trip to Karu and Nyanya, in the FCT, revealed that all the filling stations along the Nyanya-Jikwoyi road, were not selling except Mobil filling station besides GSS Jikwoyi and AA Rano were dispensing fuel to motorists.
A motorists that told our reporter that he had been on the queue for over four hours added that he was still not sure if he would be able to get fuel as the management of the station said they had suspended the selling of the product.
“How can people be so heartless. There is fuel but they deliberately don’t want to sell to us. Nigerians are wicked to one another,” he said angrily.
Another man, who did not want his name on print said, “they don’t want to sell to us, they are waiting till midnight when they will sell to the black market people where they will make more money.”
The situation seem to have played into the hands of transporters who have cashed in on the situation to make quick money.
At the phase 2 junction in Jikwoyi, a trip from Jikwoyi to Berger, which used to be N200 was N300 as of Tuesday morning. Even a shop drive from Berger to Arab which is N50 is now N100.
According to the driver of the taxi or reporter boarded told a passenger that asked him why he was collecting N100 instead of the usual N50, “oga, where you see fuel?
Scarcity to persist…
Some petroleum marketers in the Lagos area said fuel scarcity will persist in Lagos and other parts of the country until depots are restocked with adequate and quality products.
According to the marketers that spoke on condition of anonymity, the current scarcity was due to the supply of a wrong specification of petrol in some parts of the country.
They noted that the directive to withdraw the product from the market even after distribution to many filling stations across Lagos and other areas created a supply shortfall, thereby, leading to panic buying.
“As we speak, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd is working to ensure that this disruption to the supply chain is addressed as soon as possible.
“However, there is the challenge of logistics and how to compensate those who were supplied with the adulterated products.
“The NNPC is working with marketers on this and once the depots are restocked, tankers will start loading and supply will improve across the country.
“Until we are able to achieve this, queues will remain at the petrol stations because of the panic already created,’’ one of the top marketers told NAN.
An independent petroleum marketer (name withheld) said there had been complaints from some motorists on the fuel quality which made his station stop selling for now.
“Some independent marketers are not hoarding products as is being alleged. Some of us were affected by the supply we got and we are trying to resolve the situation so that we can continue our business,’’ he said.
Setting the records straight
In a clear the air statement, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, explained that the methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification was discovered in fuel imported into the country, and inorder to ensure vehicular and equipment safety, the limited quantity of the impacted product was isolated and withdrawn from the market, including the loaded trucks in transit.
Methanol is a regular additive in Petrol and usually blended in an acceptable quantity.
According to the Authority, “Our technical team in conjunction with NNPC Ltd and other industry stakeholders, will continue to monitor and ensure quality petroleum products are adequately supplied and distributed nationwide.
“The source supplier has been identified and further commercial and appropriate actions shall be taken by the Authority and NNPC Ltd.
“NNPC Ltd and all Oil Marketing Companies have been directed to sustain sufficient distribution of Petrol in all retail outlets nationwide.
“Meanwhile, NNPC has intensified efforts at increasing the supply of Petrol into the market in order to bridge any unforeseen supply gap,” the Authority assured.
