Fuel scarcity spreads, NUPENG blames NNPC, IOCs, others

The scarcity of petrol spread to more cities across the country on Wednesday with queues of desperate motorists becoming lengthier in the few filling stations that had the product to sell.

Although the situation improved slightly from what it was on Monday and Tuesday in the Lagos and Ogun areas, reports from other parts of the country indicated that the scarcity had spread to more towns and cities.

For instance, the News Agency of Nigeria reported that motorists formed long queues at filling stations in the Kaduna metropolis.

Motorists in Nsukka, Enugu State were reported to be groaning as the pump price of petrol suddenly jumped to between N150 and N180 per litre instead of the official price of N97.

NAN reported that commuters were bearing the brunt as fares had also gone up.

In Birnin Kebbi, capital of Kebbi State, NAN reported that the few filling stations selling the product had increased the price from N97 to between N120 and N125 per litre.

It further reported that only one of the mega stations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in the state capital was selling the product at the controlled price of N97 per litre.

A four-litre gallon of petrol that was formerly sold at N550 by the road side attracted N700 on Wednesday.

However, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria attributed the nationwide scarcity of fuel to cargo clearance delays on the high sea caused by security operatives.

The President, IPMAN, Mr. Abdulkadir Aminu, said the clearing processes adopted by the security agencies were time consuming, leading   to delays in offloading of products before transporting them to depots.

He said many cargo ships loaded with petroleum products were being delayed on the high sea.

Aminu said in a statement on Wednesday, “The Nigerian Navy and other security personnel on the high sea have their own mode of operations as security officers, and they can only explain better how they clear these vessels.

“But to the best of my understanding, their delay in clearing the ships on the high sea is the cause of the problem that the nation is facing today.”

Similarly, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers has threatened to go on strike over the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill and the current scarcity of petrol across the nation.

The union, which did not give details of when the strike would commence, also blamed the ongoing fuel scarcity in the country on multinational oil companies, the NNPC, Department of Petroleum Resources and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.

The President, NUPENG, Mr. Igweh Achese, said this after the union’s National Administrative Council meeting held on Tuesday night in Abuja.

“We are calling on the National Assembly to fast track the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill. We may have no option than to proceed on a strike if the situation persists,” he said.