Petrol price has increased to N850 as scarcity resurfaced in parts of Lagos State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
This is coming barely six days before the commencement of the planned nationwide protest over economic challenges.
On Friday, fuel queues started to get longer within the Lagos metropolis, with few fuel stations dispensing. While the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC fuel stations sell at N650 per litre, and other independent marketers, sell between N850 to N950 per litre.
It was discovered that many filling stations which seemed to have run out of stocks, were seen under lock and key, shutting their gates against motorists and other users of petroleum products.
With those stations selling the product to buyers, there were long queues as panic buying continued. This resulted in gridlock along the roads where stations were dispensing.
Men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authorities, LASTMA, seemed overwhelmed as they could not effectively contain the high influx of motorists searching for the product.
As a result, black marketers have taken advantage of the situation, selling the product to desperate motorists at exorbitant rates of up to N1000 to N1400 per litre.
Black market dealers were seen hawking the product at Egbeda, Ikotun, LASU-Iba Road, Ikeja, and Agege, among others.
A Danfo driver, Mr.Jude Akpan, who spoke to Vanguard, lamented that he spends twice on fuel to fill his vehicle for one trip so he has passed the cost onto passengers.
“I bought N850 per litre from a filling station this morning after several hours in the long queue.
“I bought 20 litres for N17,000, which can hardly take me two trips from Ikotun to Oshodi.”
Investigation showed that at Ikotun to Egbeda, which used to be N200, is now N500, while Iyana-Ipaja is N700, depending on the bargaining power of passengers.
Also, vehicle owners and other petrol users lamented the situation, saying it could be more harsh on the economy in the coming weeks if authorities did not address the cause of the shortage.
A similar scenario played out in Abuja, Nasarawa, and Lokojo, the Kogi State capital as most filling stations were also shut.
Meanwhile, the NNPC has attributed the ongoing petrol scarcity in areas like Lagos and Abuja to a ‘hitch’ in the discharge operations of vessels delivering petrol to filling stations in these regions.
The spokesperson of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
Soneye explained that the ‘hitch’ disrupted normal operations. He added that the company is working with other stakeholders to resolve the issues and restore normalcy.
“NNPC Ltd Speaks on Fuel Supply Situation
“The NNPC d. wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.
“The Company further states that it is working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations,” Soneye said.
