Marketers shut down filling stations, price exceeds N1,000 per liter. NNPC insists it does not owe foreign traders $6.8bn, blames distribution issues
The biting scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, which had hit the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) since over one month, became more acute at the weekend and spread nationwide, with fuel queues on a scale not seen in recent times, and the product selling for more than N1,000 per litre in some places.
The scarcity led to disruption of commercial and social activities at the weekend in Abuja and the country’s commercial capital of Lagos, as well as Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, Niger, Nasarawa, and several other states.Many filling stations shut down their operations due to the severe undersupply of PMS.Although Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had said the shortages were caused by “distribution” challenges, it did not specify the cause of the current spike, which had lingered in Abuja and environs for over four weeks.
But NNPC denied reports that it was indebted to international oil traders to the tune of $6.8 billion and that it had not remitted revenues to the Federation Account since January, among other allegations. In several parts of Abuja, a 10-litre container of petrol sold for as high as N12,000 on the black market, while private filling station owners sold for between N700 and N1,050 per litre, depending on location. However, the few NNPC mega stations in Abuja still sold for N617, but with queues stretching several kilometres.The situation led to the skyrocketing of transport fares, with the doubling of rates in many routes within Abuja.
President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi, blamed the situation on “panic buying“.
Maigandi said, “Some of the trucks are already on the way, but we are having some challenges.“The vessels that are supposed to bring the product to the tank farm were experiencing some delays in movement due to the rain.
