On Monday, long queues for fuel forced drivers to spend hours at filling stations in the main cities of Lagos, Abuja, and Ogun. The PUNCH witnessed long queues at various filling stations, including NNPC, Mobil, Capital, Fatgbems, Enyo, and TotalEnergies in the states of Lagos and Ogun. Though there were products at these filling stations, which also sold at N165/litre, motorists struggled to get gasoline with which to run their economic lives.
There were also queues in states bordering the FCT, including Nasarawa and Niger. Long queues were seen in the Federal Capital Territory at some filling stations, including NNPC, Mobil, A.A. Rano, AYA Ashafa, and Enyo.
Commuters were stranded in Lagos, Abuja, Oyo and some other states, as the ongoing fuel crisis bites harder in the country. The scarcity, which started in Abuja about three weeks ago, crept into Oyo and Lagos last weekend.
According to information obtained by Vanguard yesterday, the scarcity was caused by a reduction in the supply of petrol by 22%, from 79.53 million liters per day in May to 65.24 million liters per day on June 20, 2022 which has resulted to a hike in the price of fuel in some filling stations. Consequently, transporters have shifted the high cost to commuters in form of high fares in Lagos and its environs. Speaking with Vanguard on the issue, the National Operations Controller, IPMAN, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, attributed the present scarcity to inadequate supply, adding that the situation had worsened because its members had not been lifting the product.
To add to the existing shortage of premium motor spirit or petrol, the price of diesel has increased from around N600 to N820 per litre and that of aviation fuel has increased from N670 to N714 per litre. Recall that marketers cited the present high cost of diesel as one of the factors limiting the transportation of fuel across the nation? However, the Federal Government, in the face of this, said yesterday it was not in a position to intervene to bring down the price of diesel and aviation fuel, saying the prices of both products were deregulated. Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, who made this statement in Abuja, explained that the prices of both products which were imported, were being impacted by foreign exchange rate.
Source: The Punch, Vanguard NGR
