The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Tuesday said that the ongoing fuel scarcity might linger on as marketers faced the challenges of non-availability of petrol in depots.
Alhaji Ahmed Debo, Chairman, Western Zone of
IPMAN, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos
as queues resurfaced within the metropolis.
According to Debo,
marketers are facing serious challenges because there is no petrol to load.
“ There is no product
to load to the hinterland; most marketers depend on Lagos and they could not
get product; so, it’s very difficult getting petrol in Ilorin, Kogi, Osun,
Ekiti, Ibadan and others.
“We hope that
government would expedite action on petrol importation to salvage the situation
as most marketers had been thrown out of business.
“We could not load
petrol in major depots in Lagos as it is only NIPCO and Folawiyo that hav
product which is strictly for NNPC retails outs.
“Loading tickets given
to marketers couldn’t work as there is no petrol to load in any depots,” he
said.
Debo, however, urged
President Muhamadu Buhari to urgently intervene on the lingering fuel scarcity
issues and importation challenges to avoid hindering socio-economic growth of
the nation.
“We are still having
the fuel problem because there is no supply. Even with the little we are
rationing, if you look at the queues very well, they have returned to what they
used to be. And it is a very devastating situation now.
“Most of the depots
are not loading well. Even the products they promised that they will soon pump
to the depots are not in sight now,’’ he added.
NAN correspondent who
monitored the situation reported that the slight improvement in recent days has
worsened as queues grew longer on Tuesday at the few petrol stations selling
the product in Lagos.
NAN also reports that
fuel queues grow longer in Lagos metropolis, while loading at depots has not
improved significantly, with many of them still attending to tickets issued of
2015.
In Lagos, many filling
stations did not have the product, while those who had sell within N150 to N
220 per litre.
Some stations on
Ikorodu road like NIPCO, Total, Conoil and Forte oil are selling but
experiencing long queues.
At Ikorodu, few
stations like Bravo, Fagbems, Dhram, Accion and Flomssy were selling within
N150 to N 230 per litre.
The Group General Manager,
Group Public Affairs Division, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr
Garba Deen Mohammed , had assured motorists and other users that the current
shortage would soon be over as the problems had been largely resolved
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