Fuel queues: NNPC, marketers say supply hitches responsible
Ilenre Irele
Lagosians again are at the mercy of a round of fuel queue, as scarcity worsens in the Lagos metropolis and the Federal Capital Territory, even as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and oil marketers have attributed the development to supply disruption at key depots in the two cities.
EnergyDay gathered that some oil marketers and transporters in the two cities deliberately cut down on the number of trucks they sent out to load the product in anticipation of the planned nationwide hunger protest, especially as they are said to be concerning over likely violence.
Our correspondent gathered that some PMS dealers had earlier given order to their truck drivers to park, particularly those involved in the transportation of products from the coastal depots in the South to the hinterlands in the North.
Some marketers who spoke with EnergyDay said the development was responsible for the resurgence of fuel queues being experienced in many parts of the country, including Abuja, Nasarawa, Niger, Lagos, and Ogun, among others.
On its part, the NNPCL stated that the fuel queues were ignited by hitches in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.
It was, however, quick to state that the national oil firm was working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in operations.
EnergyDay correspondents who moved round the Lagos metropolis witnessed long lines of queues at the Nipco Filling Station on the Zuba-Kubwa Expressway, even as motorists rushed to the Conoil Filling Station opposite the headquarters of NNPC inside Abuja on Saturday.
Many other outlets, including Shafa, Salbas, and Gegu Oil, among others, located on the busy Kubwa-Zuba Expressway, were also closed yesterday, and some of the attendants said this was due to a lack of products to dispense.
Long queues were also observed on Sunday in Lagos In Lagos at some major filling stations located along the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway, especially those in the Abule-Egba, Agege, LASU/Igando, Egbeda, and Iyana-Ipaja axis of the state.
As a result of the scarcity, petrol was sold for between N650 and N850 in the affected parts of Lagos on Saturday.
Our correspondent, who visited the Ibafo and Magboro areas along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Road, Ogun State, also observed that several filling stations were either shut or overwhelmed with long lines of vehicles and motorcycles.
This was just as several other Filling Stations, including Enyo, Heyden, Haoti, and Osadol in Ibafo, as well as Quest filling station in Magboro, were not dispensing petrol despite being open.
Commenting on the development, the Deputy National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Zarma Mustapha, said the queues were also due to the planned protest.
“The planned protest is one of the reasons for the queues we are seeing now. Most transporters and marketers are a bit sceptical about dispatching their trucks for loading at the various coastal depots for delivery to the hinterlands.
“So, people are waiting to see how things are going to be, and there are not many trucks that have gone to lift the product. Everybody is watching; nobody knows how the protest is going to turn out,” he stated.
The IPMAN official urged those gearing up to protest to be responsible during the exercise to avoid losses to private businesses, government, and other individuals.
“My advice is that even though it is the legitimate right of anyone to protest, it should be done with a sense of responsibility because we have a lot of unemployed idle youths. It shouldn’t be done in such a way that hoodlums will hijack the protest and cause disharmony within the country.
“No matter what you are protesting against, there must be peace. Once law, order, and peace are strangulated, we will all face the consequences. So, let us all use a sense of responsibility and caution in exercising our rights to protest.
“It is not wrong to come out and protest to show the grievances one has against the government, but it should be done with a sense of responsibility and caution,” Mustapha stated.
Also speaking on the queues, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, blamed the development on discharge operations at some fuel vessels.
He pointed out that the situation was being addressed by the company and stakeholders.
“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is due to a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.
