The management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has denied being responsible for the extraneous situation which has led to the emergence of fuel queues in some cities across the country.
According to a statement on its website, the oil sector regulator insisted that the “long queues have nothing to do with the unavailability of products in the depots as erroneously being speculated. The NNPC /PPMC fuel supply chain remains robust with enough products to last till the end of the year and beyond.
“The artificial scarcity has its roots in a recent directive issued to Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, by the national leadership of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, stop bridging to Suleja and also to stop product supply to Abuja to protest a long standing contractual issue between the management of MTEL and Petroleum Tanker Owners. The tanker drivers and NUPENG are also demanding the repairs of access roads to the depots as a pre-condition to resuming loading of products.”
It will be recalled that the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, had in January attributed the resurgence of fuel queues in Lagos and Abuja was due to the malfunctioning of the channel controlling the piping of products from vessels to marketers’ facilities at the Lagos harbour.
In spite this explanation, motorists in Abuja and Lagos have continued to lament the unending queues in fuel stations across the two cities.
