Lagos’s fuel scarcity worsens, with stations accused of hoarding

• Lagosians are lamenting over fuel scarcity and said they are buying fuel at a ridiculous price
• They melted their rage at NNPC over the station’s unwillingness to sell fuel despite having the commodity on hand.

Lagosians awoke on Monday to another week of severe fuel scarcity as more gas stations were locked up and declared to be out of fuel.

However, the few distribution stations, particularly the NNPC retail shops, are being accused of hoarding fuel and denying sales to drivers who have been in line since 5 a.m.

Many drivers vented their rage at an NNPC retail location on Ogunnusi Road, Ojodu-Berger, across from Omole-1 gate, over the station’s unwillingness to sell fuel despite having the commodity on hand.

This morning, drivers were informed that although fuel dispensing typically begins at 7 a.m., it will not begin until 10:00. One of the drivers told newsmen that the gas station unexpectedly stopped selling fuel on Sunday because it was getting loud.

“On the instruction of the manager, they just stopped selling and this was because the security man on duty failed to do his work by ensuring orderliness. This wasn’t caused by those of us on duty. We begged and begged, and they said we should come back by 6:00 am on Monday.

“Now we have been here since 5 a.m and all their staff is here but they are saying they won’t sell until 10. They didn’t give us any reason for not selling.”

Meanwhile, we learned from The Punch, if there is no subsidy, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited can sell Premium Motor Spirit, also known as gasoline, to marketers for as little as N400 per liter.

Oil marketers, who disclosed the information on Sunday, provided additional justifications for the ongoing petrol shortage that had resulted in the protracted lines at filling stations nationwide

They claimed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the only importer of the goods, was finding it increasingly difficult to pay the PMS import charges. They also revealed that the NNPC had been discreetly pressuring depot owners to pay these fees.

READ ALSO: Why is Nigeria currently experiencing fuel scarcity? 

Additionally, it was learned that the Federal Government had covertly permitted depot owners to increase the ex-depot price of gasoline from the previously sanctioned amount of N147/litre to around N185/litre.

This occurred on Sunday while the gasoline shortage persisted. Abuja’s retail establishments were forced to close since there were no goods to sell. Locals were forced to turn to black merchants who offered their goods in jerrycans.

The same situation occurred in parts of the states of Nasarawa and Niger, and oil marketers explained that the rise in the dollar was also a factor in the scarcity of PMS that had been observed in Nigeria.

“The dollar is affecting PMS purchase, something you were buying for about $15/tonne when the dollar was about N440 to N450, but currently the dollar is about N750 to N800. Definitely, the price of the product will increase,” a major marketer, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorization, stated.

The official added, “You can buy a product, say $10/tonne from maybe Russia, it will get to Nigerian waters at that rate, but most of those mother vessels, as soon as they discharge into your own vessel, whatever rate you now pay will be international rates in the dollar.

“The mother vessel has its limit, it has to be stationed at Atlas Cove. But the daughter vessel you are going to charge, which brings in the product, will be charged in dollars. They don’t take naira. So all these charges come in dollars.”