NNPC Explains Fuel Queues ‘Wahala’
- Insists there are adequate products
- Blames logistics challenges
- Abuja Residents lament hardship
BY EDMOND ODOK – The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) says it has resolved the issues that adversely affected the supply of fuel and scarcity being experienced in parts of the country.
This is as Abuja residents are not smiling at the problem of long queues that have resurfaced at most filling stations across the Nigeria’s capital city and have tasked the oil giant to urgently address the crisis.
However, on Thursday, the NNPC Ltd responded with assurances that the issues were due to logistics challenges that have been adequately addressed.
Reacting to the situation, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd. Olufemi Soneye, also assured that the prices of petroleum products are not changing as being speculated in some quarters
Soneye said in a statement; “The NNPC Ltd. wishes to clarify that the tightness in the supply of PMS currently being experienced in some areas across the country is as a result of logistics issues and that they have been resolved.
“The NNPC Ltd. urges Nigerians to avoid panic buying as there is a sufficiency of products in the country”.
But notwithstanding the NNPC’s assurance, motorists in Abuja said the situation at hand is not funny given the hardship they go through daily at fuel stations due to petrol scarcity.
The queues, which surfaced Monday morning, have so far persisted through Thursday, with traffic gridlocks being experienced in major parts of the city centre where motorists closed many service lanes to traffic in their bid to access the scarce product.
In many popular locations across the FCT, such as Wuse, Kubwa, Wuye, the Central Business District (CBD), and the Lugbe axis among others, petrol was being sold at prices ranging between N680 and N720.
This is as the retail outlets of the NNPC continue to sell the product for N617 per litre.
On the other hands, it has been a thriving business experience for black marketers seen around town hawking the products in jerry cans with patronage coming from interested motorists and other residents in need of petrol to run their businesses or power generators at home.
Forefront News findings indicate round most of the filling stations, the black marketers’ price per litre varies between the range of N1000 and N1200 based on the customers’ power of negotiations.
