•Queues linger in Lagos, Abuja, major cities
Queues lengthened yesterday at petrol stations in some parts of Lagos State as motorists battled to fill their vehicle tanks.
Many residents, especially pupils, their parents, workers, and traders were caught in the web with fewer commercial buses on the roads.
Many bus stops were filled with hundreds of stranded passengers while roads hosting some filling stations that dispensed petrol witnessed gridlocks caused by desperate drivers.
The chaos along the roads was also witnessed inside the stations by residents trying to buy the product with jerry cans or gallons.
Commercial bus drivers who operated in the early hours of the day cashed in on the situation to raise fares by between 50 and 200 percent .
Like Lagos, there was no noticeable improvement in petrol supplies in states like Oyo, Osun, Edo, Kwara, Ebonyi, Niger, Plateau, Benue and Kaduna.
In Sokoto and Akwa Ibom states this were better than they were on Sunday. The Nigerian National Petrol Company Limited(NNPC) mega stations maintained a pump price of N620 per liter. Independent markers in Sokoto, however, sold for as much as N1,300 a litre.
Unfortunately, queues resurfaced yesterday in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where the scarcity of petrol began about a week ago before it spread to Lagos.
NNPCL Chief Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) National President, Abubakar Maigandi on Sunday told The Nation that logistics problem that caused the scarcity had been resolved. They said that even though the lifting of petrol by marketers from deports had commenced, it would take a maximum of five days for normalcy to return.
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They advised against panic buying, saying there was enough stock to meet demands.
Pupils whose schools reopened yesterday in Lagos, their parents, and traders said apart from spending hours at bus stops, they had to pay more for transportation. Some said they had to trek long distances to save cost.
A Junior Secondary School (JSS) pupil, Mukaila Jamiu, told The Nation that he spent more than two hours at a bus stop in Iyana Ipaja, a Lagos suburb, before getting to his school.
A parent, Shade Agboola, said that leaving her house in the morning to take her children to school and make her way to Lagos Island was hectic.
“When I got to the bus stop this morning (yesterday), the crowd I saw was huge” Agboola said.
A businessman, Mr Kingsley Udeh, also said he resorted to trekking a long distance to get to his shop.
•Queues return to FCT
FCT residents who had a breather after almost a week of coping with scarcity were jolted yesterday morning with return of empty pumps at filling stations.
Most independent marketers did not dispense petrol but some NNPC stations and major marketers which did had long queues of vehicles stretching over 700 metres.
Price, however, remained N617 per litre but at black markets, it was between N720 and N1,000 a litre.
A driver that gave his name as Okey said he spent two hours at a station on the Olusegun Obasanjo Expressway before buying petrol.
“Nothing has changed about the scarcity. I spent over two hours in the queue before petrol was dispensed to me,” he told The Nation.
Besides, some major marketers, which were open to customers also did not hike their pump prices.
Like in Lagos, the scarcity did not only leave commuters stranded, it caused a hike in the cost of transportation.
- Surveillance teams deployed in Osun, Kwara
In the two states, the The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq-led administration warned against petrol hoarding by marketers and panic buying by residents.
The agency and Kwara state government said they had commenced monitoring of filling station to ensure that the product is not hoarded.
State Coordinator of the NMDPRA Adekunle Adeyemo and Governor AbdulRasaq’s Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Mashood Agboola made this known yesterday.
“The surveillance team of the agency is already out to ensure that those who have the product are dispensing it to motorists at reasonable price.
“However, any filling station caught hoarding the product with the view of inflicting pains on the masses will not be spared,’’ said Adeyemo.
Agboola, in his statement, explained that the deployment of the surveillance committee was a part of government’s measures to address scarcity in the state.
He said: “This is a committee set up by His Excellency AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to see to the problem of fuel shortage. As a responsible and responsive government, we cannot be folding our hands watching. We have to see that the majority of our people enjoy the dividends of democracy.”
*No respite in Oyo, Edo, seven others
Nine states were also not having a breather as of yesterday with most of the filling stations not dispensing petrol.
Like in Lagos and FCT, thousands of commuters were stranded at bus stops while business operators that rely on petrol, moaned over the scarcity.
In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, commercial bus drivers and motorcycle riders took advantage of the situation to hike fares by 80 percent.
The few stations that sold at about N800 to N850 also had long queues that caused gridlocks in areas they are located.
A commercial driver plying Egbeda – Iwo Road axis told The Nation that he spent more than three hours at a filling station before he could make a purchase at an NNPC depot at N580 per litre
In Benin, the Edo State capital, motorists and commuters lamented the high cost of petrol and the amount of time they spent at the few independent stations that sold petrol. The marketers sold a litre for between N690 and N750.
Many commuters lamented trekking long distances to their destinations because of the high cost of transportation.
The situation appeared worse in Kaduna State as many of the major outlets which sold the product at the weekend, did not dispense yesterday.
At black markets where some desperate residents turned to, a litre was N1,500
Cost of transportation also increased by 100 percent, forcing many commuters, including schoolchildren, to be stranded at bus stops.
In Minna, Niger State, the few stations, including those of the NNPC that opened, also had long queues of vehicles.
The situation worsened in Plateau State with nearly 70 percent of the stations lacking petrol.
The development grounded business and other activities, especially in the capital city of Jos and its environs.
The few NNPC mega stations that had petrol dispensed at N617 per litre, independent marketers at N800 and black market dealers at N1,200.
Expectedly transport fare in Jos metropolis soared by 30 percent.
In Jalingo, Taraba State, it has been a double misery for the residents who have had no access to electricity and petrol in the past week.
While vehicle and business owners lamented that the scarcity had almost grounded them, domestic users said it has made it impossible to power their generators, especially at night.
A resident, who gave his name as Mohammed said: ‘’My family finds it had to sleep at nights. The heat here is excessive. Temperature is as high as 40° Celsius. Sometimes, it is higher. This suffering is getting worse with no petrol and electricity. Government, NNPC and the power distribution companies should wake up to their responsibilities.’’
A prominent politician in the state, Noah Bingong, said, “ This is the hottest period in Taraba State. Sleeping in the house is a problem. Eating is a problem, drinking is a problem. So, the heat has caused more harm and destruction.
‘’People have lost their businesses. People no longer get cold water. When you cook soup for three days, now you have to finish it that day.’’
In Ebonyi, some filling stations did not open because they ran out of stock. The few that opened sold for between N780 to N850 per litre.
However, the increase in pump price did not affect intra-city transport cost.
Adamawa State residents said their problem was not scarcity but the ever-rising cost of petrol.
Some said they had decided to park their vehicles while others could not spend between N950 and N970 on a litre of petrol.
At black markets, it was N1,250 per litre yesterday.
There was also no improvement in Makurdi, Benue State. The product sold for N810 per litre at most independent filling stations.
Almost all the major marketers in the city had no supplies as of 4 pm yesterday.
The worsening scarcity turned a boom period for black market operators, who sold a litre for N1,300.
*No scarcity in Akwa Ibom, Sokoto
Although there was no scarcity in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State yesterday, price rose from N690 and N700 to N750. The rise in pump price resulted to an increase in the cost of intra and inter-state transport
There was significant improvement in Sokoto metropolis and environs. A litre sold for N620 at NNPC mega stations but N1,300 at those operated by independent markers.
Two days ago, the independent dealers sold the product for as much as N2000 and N2500 per litre.
- Scarcity planned to Nigerians against govt
The Tinubu/Shettima Mandate Actualisation Group has added a new dimension to the cause of the scarcity by attributing it to a plan by some people to set Nigerians against the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government.
