Queues for petrol have continued to grow in different states as the country is being thrown into a fresh round of fuel scarcity despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that it has resolved the cause of fuel shortages in the country.
NNPC spokesman Olufemi Soneye had in a statement on Thursday emphasised that the prices of petroleum products were not changing, while also clarifying that the tightness in supply currently being experienced in some parts of the country, as a result of logistics issues, and that has been resolved.
However, on Monday, there was a surge in the number of vehicle queues at filling stations in parts of Lagos State, Ogun, Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Benue, Sokoto, and some other states with prices as high as ₦700 per litre.
While prices have surged to about ₦700 per litre and above at filling stations belonging to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigerian (IPMAN), few owned by the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) sell at ₦610 per litre and above while NNPCL stations currently sell at ₦568 per litre.
Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, had said, “The situation is that there is no product. Once there is a lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations.”
This situation has prompted black marketers who now sell to motorists at exorbitant rates of up to ₦1000 to ₦1200 per litre.
