More retail outlets shut as fuel scarcity worsens in Lagos
Many fuel stations failed to open for motorists on Monday as sudden reappearance of queues at available stations in the Lagos metropolis became chaotic arising from traffic jam.
Most filling stations that opened for business were dispensing with one or two pumps and this created long queues and panic among motorists as well as other users who had besieged the stations.
Lagos zonal chairman of NUPENG, Alhaji Nujeemdeen Korodo told Daily Trust on Monday that, though there is inadequate fuel supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the strike embarked upon by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), created panic buying in Lagos.
According to him, it would take a week or two to clear the backblock.
Executive secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Mr Olufemi Adewole, linked the scarcity to the huge demand for PMS in Europe.
According to him, there is a huge demand for refined products globally, and there is scarcity of the product worldwide adding that refined products are needed more in Europe because of the winter.
“So, available products around the world are diverted to Europe. If NNPC had done what it did last year by importing enough cargoes of PMS ahead of the yuletide we won’t have this problem but somehow this was not done”, he said
He said that though he was aware that some cargoes of PMS are coming into the country and the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) have programmed some marketers and depot owners for loading today, the processes take some days to do.
“Unfortunately, this is a festive period and some people that are not used to buying full tanks will automatically fill their tank. PPMC said they are offloading 23,000 metric tonnes every day, according to what we were told when we met with the management last week in Abuja but it’s not possible to offload a cargo in a day. It takes a minimum of 72 hours”, he said.
He added “When you are programmed to come and load, you will load, take it to your depot and discharge. The number of hours it takes to load, is about the same number of hours you will use to discharge at the depot and then customers come for loading to their outlets. This is not a day’s job. If they (NNPC) had done it well, this gap should not have arisen at all. NNPC’s management, knows fully well that fuel consumption usually builds up to festive period, so it should have built up reserves before now”.
Adewole said depot owners are no longer importing because the ex-depot price has gone above government approved price of N133.25 per litre, he said.
Meanwhile, NAN observed that some filling stations at Berger- Iyana-Oworo Expressway, Ikorodu, Bariga, LagosBadagry Expressway, among others, sold petrol at between N160 and N170 per litre.
At NIPCO filling station in Ikorodu, a banker, Mr Anthony Sunday, said that there was no justification for the current fuel scarcity as the government had assured citizens of abundant fuel supply during the Yuletide.
He said that marketers were taking advantage of PENGASSAN’s planned strike and the festive period to exploit citizens.
At a Conoil filling station at Alapere, a trader, Mrs Alice Jubril, condemned its management for selling above the pump price of N145 per litre.
Jubril said that marketers were also the cause of the long queues at filling stations.
“I bought a litre of petrol at N160 against the regulated price of N145 per litre. This is an indication of exploitation,” she said.
Another motorist, Mrs Ifeoma Vincent, urged the regulatory agencies to intervene to stop arbitrary increase in pump price.
“For instance, the fare for a trip from Ikorodu to Ojuelegba which used to be N250 is now N700, while a journey to Ketu which formerly was N100 is now N300.
“Apart from the hike in transport fares, the fuel situation has also affected the traffic situation as parts of the roads have now been taken over by vehicles queuing for fuel,” she said.