•Black marketers rule in Kaduna, Abuja, others; queues abate in several states
Fuel pump price yesterday hit N300 in many states across the country despite the ultimatum issued by the Department of State Services last week.
This is as black marketers have continued to have a field day in Kaduna State and parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The DSS had on Thursday issued a 48 hours ultimatum to all stakeholders in the oil industry to resolve the ongoing fuel scarcity across the country. The ultimatum expired yesterday.
The secret agency warned that it would launch a nationwide operation on saboteurs if there were still queues at various filling stations in the country after the ultimatum.
The ultimatum appears not to have yielded so much fruit as many major marketers were still not selling. The few that were selling below N200 per litre had vehicles queuing up in their stations.
In Kaduna State, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as fuel, was available at filling stations operated by black marketers.
The black marketers operating mostly in independent fuel stations in the outskirts of Kaduna metropolis, were selling for between N270 and N300, while roadside black marketers selling in jerricans sold for N400 a litre.
Meanwhile, only major marketers like Total, Oando Mobil and NNPC and few independent marketers like AA Rano and Shafa were selling at the normal price of N185.
The filling stations selling at official price of N185 had long and disordisorderly queues.
As at Saturday, many of the fuel stations selling for the official pump price did not open for business.
In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, many residents and commuters were still finding it hard to get petrol from filling stations across the city.
The situation, it was gathered, was not different in Igboora, Oyo, Ogbomoso and other parts of the state.
Although many of the independent marketers were selling, few queues were observed as only those willing to buy at between N270 and N300 per litre entered the stations to get the product.
Most major marketers across the state sold between N190 and N200.
The few major marketers that sold the product recorded long queues of consumers.
A dealer in the product who pleaded anonymity said the situation might take some time to be corrected if the government did not address the major cause which has to do with changes in prices the product is lifted from the depot.
The source added that no marketer will sell the product at a cost lesser than it is lifted from the depot no matter the level of loyalty, honesty or sincerity.
The situation was also the same in Osun State as the residents especially those in the capital, Osogbo have been groaning over the sale of petrol for N300 per liter in the last two weeks.
The fuel crisis which is still lingering in the state has not been recording heavy queues again except at petrol stations like NNPC, NIPCO and Bovas that are selling at the normal prices ranging from N180, N179 and N185 per liter.
Meanwhile, the hike in price has forced commercial drivers to increase the fare by 50 per cent in the state.
Findings around the nation’s capital by our correspondent showed that most stations were still shut down with black marketers selling the product at N300 per litre, down from the N350 per litre sold the previous days.
At the city centre, queues were noticeably shorter than it used to be at the TotalEnergies station opposite the NNPC Towers while the Conoil station was shut.
Checks also showed that most stations along the Kubwa Expressway including Shema, Salbas, NIPCO, Eterna had shorter queues unlike days before the DSS handed a 48-hour ultimatum to the marketers to ensure adequate supply.
Also Total filling Station located along Gado NASCO Road Kubwa, opened to motorists was selling fuel after weeks of lockdown.
One of the attendants who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of sanctions said: “We’ve exhausted our supply, we even sold very early Saturday morning but we finished selling by 3pm”.
In Utako District of the city, most petrol stations were now selling with a short queue.
For instance, NNPC retail outlet which was formerly Oando located at airport junction, Jabi; Forte Oil, NIPCO Oil, all along Jabi/Utako axis shut to consumers had begun to sell.
Outside the city however, the few independent marketers which were open sold above N250 per litre.
In the Kuje Area Council of the FCT, marketers openly flouted the directives as black marketers continued to have a field day.
However, most of the major marketers sold between N179 and N185 per litre.
Speaking with The Nation on phone, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) National Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, debunked the conjecture of hoarding the PMS.
According to him, the independent marketers were still awaiting the
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Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to give them their direct product instead of buying from the private depots.
He said “The queues have started reducing even as the private depots are selling to us independent marketers at N235 per litre.”
“We are not hoarding the product. It is just that we are waiting for the NNPCL to give us our product,” said Maigandi.
Although the supply increase became evident on Friday when some of the petrol stations that were previously vending the product with a maximum of three pumps raised their supply overnight with virtually all their pumps.
A.A. Rano in AYA and Katampe along Kubwa Expressway recorded shorter queues.
A cab driver, Mr. Joseph Abbah told The Nation that “their (retail outlets) queues didn’t project out of the stations. There were no excuses of no product or delays because of hot underground tanks and tankers. The sale has been seamless.”
The NNPCL on Arab Road, Kubwa, was selling the product. The Nation observed that there was no queue outside the retail outlet.
Fuel remains N250 per litre at Enugu retail outlets
The price of the PMS otherwise known as petrol remained at N250 per litre in most of the retail outlets in Enugu State.
The price, it was observed, had remained stable in most filling stations since late last month with few others selling at N260 per litre.
However, few filling stations which sold at the approved pump price, continued to witness long queues by customers who could not afford to buy above N185 per litre.
Checks by our correspondent yesterday in Enugu revealed that more filing stations that hitherto were not dispensing had joined the growing numbers of stations selling at between N250 and N260 per litre.
While this had since affected the cost of transportation in the state, it was gathered that the availability of the products had reduced long queues formed in many of the outlets owned by members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) such as Pinnacle, North-West, Mobil, NNPC, Oando and Conoil which sell N185 per litre.
Several fuel Stations in Niger state were selling between N280 and N290.
These fuel stations were not major marketers as those ones were not selling fuel as at Saturday.
Most of the stations selling fuel are located along the Bosso, Maikunkele and Maitumbi axis of Minna metropolis.
However, during the week between Thursday and Friday, major marketers like Matrix, Rano, Mobil and Shafa had fuel but had long queues making motorists spend hours before getting the product.
Petrol station owner sell PMS for N250 In Abia
Most petrol stations operating in Umuahia, the Abia State capital and Aba, the commercial nerve of the state dispensed Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) between N240- and N250 per liter.
There were no queues in most of the areas visited by our correspondent.
The Eastern Zonal chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Prince Bobby Eberechi in an interview decried the sorry state of members of the Port Harcourt zone of the association which comprises Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayalsa, Benue, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Rivers, Kogi and Nasarawa states with NNPC loading depots at Aba, Calabar, Enugu, Makurdi and Port Harcourt with over 3,000 registered marketers.
Prince Eberechi said that: “None of these depots are working at the moment. NNPC is the sole importer of petroleum products to Nigeria. These depots have over 3,000 marketers registered in each depot with NNPC.
“Instead of these products being pumped to these depots, They now sell these products to middlemen in the name of private tank farm owners who now decide how much they will sell to independent marketers without taking cognizance of the government regulated price.”
He further alleged that “the Department of Petroleum Resources which was supposed to be the Nigerian regulatory authority rather supports the activities of these shylock private tank farm owners to the detriment of independent petroleum marketers who they force to sell at regulated prices.
“Our situation is very pathetic. It is very sad that our competitors, the major marketers and NNPC retail outlets buy products from NNPC on credit while Independent Petroleum Marketers borrow money from banks with high interest rates to pay cash to NNPC middlemen.
“NNPC has vehemently refused to pump petroleum products to virtually all their depots. Still we are held by the jugular to sell at regulated price with no consideration as to how much we bought the products.
“More worrisome is the astronomical rise in price of diesel which is gradually running independent marketers out of business.
“To transport petroleum products from the private depots to our stations has become very herculean. Also to power our stations has become strangulating.
“For instance, we use a minimum of 50 litres of diesel per day at a cost of over N40,000.00. Yet we are “forced” to sell at a regulated price. This should be looked into.
“All the security agencies, the police, army, civil defence etc, have left their official duties, only to focus attention on independent petroleum marketers.
“As if that is not enough, multiple and duplicated taxation coupled with draconian revenue regimes of different states and local governments continue to compound the woes and agony of independent petroleum marketers”
Petrol Sells N250 Per Litre In Anambra
A litre of PMS, is sold in Anambra state between N240 and N260 per litre.
Our correspondent who monitored the situation observed that while most of the filling stations in Awka, the state capital, Onitsha, the commercial hub and Ekwuluobia sold between N240 and N250, their counterparts in Nnewi and Ihiala axis sold between N250 and N260 per litre.
One of the petrol station managers who preferred anonymity claimed they sourced the product at a very high cost.
“We only manage to get the product at a very high cost, so there is nothing one can do. A product being produced in Nigeria is being sourced at a very high cost, it is very unfortunate.
“People think that we the sellers are the problem, not knowing that we are not even making any gain as such; we are only trying to sustain the business,” he said.
Fuel sells at N290 per litre in Ondo
PMS was being sold at between N270 and N290 per litre in Akure metropolis.
The long queue that was seen in most filling stations in Akure and environs had disappeared.
A manager in one of the petrol stations who spoke on phone said they were selling according to cost price.
Chairman of IPMAN, Ore Depot, Shina Amoo, said the price of fuel remained high in Akure because the NNPC refused to supply product to depots in Ibadan, Ore and other nearby places.
Amoo said private depot owner sold products to them at between N220 and N230 per litre.
He said failure of government or relevant agencies to act promptly was reason for the high cost of fuel.
