ABUJA, Nigeria – A sudden bout of fuel scarcity has caught motorists, workers, and traders off-guard across states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, sparking widespread panic and long queues at filling stations.
Sources suggest that the situation may worsen as depots nationwide have stopped loading tankers for deliveries to marketers, owing to uncertainty over fuel pricing by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.
Abubakar Maigandi, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, confirmed on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, that all depots had ceased loading but dismissed allegations that marketers were hoarding fuel.
READ ALSO: Fuel Crisis Hits Hard as Prices Soar After Tinubu’s Subsidy Removal Announcement
He attributed the problem primarily to panic buying and the inauguration-related public holiday.
While the NNPCL assures that it has sufficient fuel stock and is monitoring distribution networks to avert recurring scarcity, field reports depict a contrary scenario.
Few stations dispensing fuel witnessed lengthy queues, and consumers were compelled to pay exorbitantly, with some pump prices soaring to between N220 and N700 per litre.
In some areas, a litre of fuel in the black market cost as much as N1,000.
State governors, including Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), Ademola Adeleke (Osun), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), and Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), have decried the artificial scarcity, warning marketers against exploiting Nigerians.
They took stringent measures to tackle the issue, from ordering the closure of hoarding stations to threatening the revocation of Certificates of Occupancy for errant fuel dealers.
During a surprise visit to civil servants, Governor Sanwo-Olu criticized the price hike and queues at filling stations as ‘unfair’, urging Nigerians to brace for potential hardships for the promise of a better future.
