Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that marketers were finding it difficult to source for dollars to finance importation of the petroleum products.
In Lagos, most filling stations visited on Sunday were out of stock, while those selling had long queues of vehicles at their stations.
The NNPC filling station at Oregun and Capital Oil filling station situated on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were dispensing with noticeable queue.
In Ibadan, Oyo State, most filling stations remained shut against motorists, as operators claimed they were out of stock.
Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that the scarcity, which resurfaced early last week, had reached its peak as fewer cars plied major roads in the capital city.
Sources, however, informed the Nigerian Tribune that the sudden scarcity was not unconnected with the rumoured price slash in the pump price of petrol by the Federal Government.
Despite the long queue noticed in the city last week, the product still sells within the offical price of N86 and N86.50.
In Ogun, the price of the product ranges between N90 and N100 per litre in some filing stations in Abeokuta metropolis.
The queue at NNPC station was endless as motorists waited patiently to buy the product.
However, some petrol stations were still selling at official price of N86.50 per litre.
In Osogbo, Osun State capital, while some fuel marketers were selling a litre of petrol for N100, others were selling it for N120 or N150.
There were no queues in the filling stations, but the NNPC mega station, which sells a litre for N86, attracted many motorists, who queued to buy the product.
Fuel queues returned to Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital and its environs, with most of the filling stations in the town closed.
The few attendants in some of the stations said they were out of stock, with some of them claiming that they were unsure when the next supply of the commodity would arrive at their station.
The few stations with the commodity to sell sold it for between N100 and N110 per litre.
However, the NNPC mega station in the town sold the commodity on Saturday and was also open when Nigerian Tribune visited on Sunday.
End users of petrol have began to groan under the grueling situation in Warri, Delta State.
Although transport fares have largely remained as they were before, most fuel stations in the state have since closed shop, hinging their reasons on lack of the product.
Checks at fuel stations in Sapele axis revealed that major marketers such as ConOil and RainOil were still selling at the approved pump price of N85.60, but they hardly had the product available.
Where available, long queues are the common denominator of such stations, while non-major marketers sold the product for between N120 and N130 to users.
Persistent fuel scarcity in Ilorin and its environs continued unabated, just as consumers lamented inconveniences on Sunday.
Investigations by the Nigerian Tribune showed that the fuel scarcity had continued to bite harder, as transporters and entrepreneurs who use the commodity for various services said they wasted several man-hour looking for fuel.
It was also gathered that many of the people affected by the scarcity had to travel to neighbouring town of Ogbomoso, Oyo State, to look for fuel, as only few petrol stations dispensed fuel for sale in the metropolis.
Petroleum products were, however, sold at normal price in most parts of the state, thus necessitating long queues, where available.
At such locations like Murtala Mohammed way, Fate Road and Tanke Road which had more than 50 filling stations, it was observed that only three of the stations sold fuel on Sunday, with long queues.
In Kogi, queues returned to filling stations in many parts of the state.
Nigerian Tribune observed that only one major marketer, Forte Oil in NEPA area of Lokoja, the state capital, had fuel and was selling at N86.50.
All other major marketers within the Lokoja metropolis locked their filling stations, claiming they had no fuel to sell.
However, some independent marketers that had the product were selling between N100 and N110.
In towns like Ankpa, Ajaokuta, Okene, Kabba a litre of petrol was sold for between N115 and N120 with less queues.
In Kaduna, long queues were noticeable in most filling stations selling the product at 86.50, while there were no queue at stations owned by independent marketers.
Finding by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that independent marketers on Sunday, sold the product at N115, while few others filling stations at Rigasa and Nassarawa sold at N120 and N125 respectively.
In Enugu State, independent petroleum marketers were not complying with the government’s directives on fuel price.
A litre of fuel sold for between N115 and N120 in the metropolis, while in rural communities, a litre of fuel was sold at N200.
Reports from Nsukka, Udi and Agbani towns revealed that prices of fuel had also gone up as a litre of fuel was sold at N150 on Sunday.
A marketer told the Nigerian Tribune in confidence on Sunday that “it is more expensive to source for dollars and finance imports with such dollars.
“There is a price width which we must not exceed. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cannot guarantee all our dollar demand for the imports.
“We are relying on allocations from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which is the main importer of fuel,” he said.
The NNPC imports 78 per cent of fuel being consumed daily in the country.
Another source, a member of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), told the Nigerian Tribune that in addition to dollar scarcity, lopsidedness in import allocation is also responsible.
“The NNPC gets 78 per cent of the total allocation for fuel importation while marketers get only 22 per cent allocation.
“At it is, Capital Oil does not have enough stock at its depot while MRS had not received products in the last two weeks and it is one of the depots NNPC uses for through-put.
“NIPCO that has the capacity to handle four cargoes only received one cargo since January. All these are factors affecting the supply,” the source said.
Efforts to speak with NNPC spokesman, Ohi Alegbe, failed, as calls put through to his mobile lines were not answered.
The NNPC has, however, assured of sufficient supply of petrol, saying it has taken delivery of four more cargoes of the product at the weekend.
NNPC, in a statement, disclosed that deliveries, which amount to about 180 million litres, is part of a new arrangement by the corporation to have a cargo of PMS delivered daily as from March.
The statement, which was signed by Alegbe, late Sunday evening and made available to newsmen, stated that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, warned depot owners against selling petrol above the approved ex-depot price of N77 per litre.
The warning came against the background of repeated complaints by marketers of sharp practices at the depots.
The statement quoted the minister as warning that depot owners found to be involved in selling products above the approved ex-depot prices would be sanctioned.
However, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said it will soon begin to seal off illegal filling stations across the Port Harcourt zone, including Rivers, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states.
Zonal Operation Controller of the petroleum regulatory agency, Mrs Chioma Njoku, made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, at the weekend.
“Our personnel will soon embark on an inspection of filling stations across the zone to ascertain those that are operating illegally without the authorisation of the DPR. Any filling station discovered to be operating without a license will be shut,” she said.
Additional reports by Jude Ossai, Muhammad Sabiu, Yinka Oladoyinbo, Biola Azeez, Ebenezer Adurokiya, Oluwole Ige, Sam Nwaoko, OLayinka Olukoya, and Tunde Ogunesan.
Source:Tribune
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