The crunch of fuel scarcity has hit harder nationwide with petrol selling at N150 per litre in parts of Lagos where it is available. The scarcity has forced motorists to patronize the black market. Most stations visited by our reporters were not selling as the attendants claimed they had no supply .
Long queues stretching over a kilometer or more formed at filling stations with petrol. This is about166.91 million litres of premium motor spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, were said to be stuck in various depots in Lagos.
No reason was given for the non-lifting of the petrol but the consequence is the resurgence of long queues at filling stations in Lagos metropolis and other parts of the country. Fuel supply nationwide had normalized after the last scarcity that almost grounded the nation but it was selling at different prices, sometimes at over N120 per litre in some states. Nigerians said they were ready to buy even at such above official price rate for as long as it is available.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and its downstream subsidiary, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, are being blamed for the current petrol shortages because of a loading directive not exceeding 50 trucks daily given to the depots.
NNPC said it has stepped up collaboration with the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, and other downstream industry players to end the fuel queues. At the Ejigbo depot in Lagos, a source told our reporter that more lifting will take place today, meaning the scarcity will abate in a little while.
