Nigerians Lament Worsening Fuel Scarcity …We Empathize With Nigerians, Says NNPC

Fuel queue at an NNPC mega filling station - the scene is replicated across the country as at Good Friday

The majority of Nigerians are resigned to spending the Easter holidays in darkness and the pain of looking for fuel to buy.

The Nation report continues:

Reports from across the country yesterday showed no improvement in the supply of power and fuel on Good Friday, the first day of the Easter public holidays.

Many motorists spent much of the day moving from one filling station to the other in search of petrol. The price was outrageous where fuel was available.

It ranged between ₦130 and ₦200 per litre.

Some families were forced to call off their plans to travel for the festivities.

Tade Ajayi, a father of four, told reporters yesterday that the experience of the last seven weeks had drained him.

“I cannot really explain how I feel. But, one thing is that the last seven weeks have been tough. I am always weak now,” he said.

Madam Ayinke Emmanuel, who sells foodstuffs at Onigbongbo, Lagos, said she and her business had suffered greatly on account of the fuel scarcity.

Over the last five years the popular Mile 12 Market in Lagos has served as her chief source of food items.

 “We are really suffering. I go to Mile 12 to buy what I sell. But since the scarcity started, I have not been able to make any meaningful profit. Much of my profit margin has been taken away by the high cost of transport fare,” she said.

Miss Toyosi Olugbuyi, a banker who works on Lagos  Island and plies the Ikorodu – Marina route said:”I usually take the BRT bus so I don’t have to pay an extra cost for transportation but the queue is not funny.

“Imagine having to get to the bus stop by 5am every day in order to get to Marina. That means I have to wake up by 4am and if I miss that time, I would have to battle with the crowd at the bus stop and pay a higher fare”.

Not a few commuters had an easy ride getting home on the eve of Good Friday as the rush to store fuel for the holiday season increased the queues at filling stations in many areas of Lagos state.

For Tayo Ojo, an accountant with a health care centre on Awolowo road, Ikeja, Lagos, the situation is made worse by of the lack of power, which he said makes him look worn out and tired every day.

Queues have continued to stretch endlessly at the filling stations in Lokoja,Kogi State  where fuel is sold at all.

For more than two weeks, notable filling stations that operated fairly more regularly since the persistent fuel problem that hit the country, including some of the NNPC mega filling stations, have remained locked.

Where available, petrol sells for ₦150 on the average.

The situation, coupled with nonpayment of salaries to civil servants, has forced many vehicle owners to patronize commercial motorcyclists (okada) or tricycles, for their daily business.

At the NNPC mega filling station in Gadumo, long queues are recorded as early as 6.30am.

Most of the filling stations in Kano usually claim to be out of stock yesterday.

However, they open under the cover of darkness and sell at outrageous prices.

Commercial activities in the city are gradually grinding to a halt, following the unending fuel scarcity.

The fuel scarcity has sparked a transportation crisis in Jos, the Plateau state capital as only a few commercial and private vehicles are on the road.

Of the over 50 filling stations in the city, only about two sell fuel these days.

Transport fare has gone up by 100 percent.

Christians complained about the high cost of food items ahead of the Easter festival.

Traders blamed the high cost of the food items on fuel scarcity and the attendant hike in transport fares.

…We Empathize With Nigerians, Says NNPC

From Left: President, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Ibeh Kachikwu and President, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Mr Igwe Achese addressing State House Correspondents after their meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday (23/3/16) 2485/23/03/2016/ICE/CH/NAN

The Nation reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has empathized with the difficulties Nigerians are going through especially during this Easter celebration due to the current fuel situation and assures that the government and NNPC are not taking their patience for granted.

The spokesman of NNPC, Garba Deen Mohammed, urged Nigerians to continue to be patient because the difficulties being experienced as a result of the situation will soon be alleviated.

“We would like to assure all Nigerians that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources/Group Managing Director, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and everybody else associated with this situation is working tirelessly round the clock to ensure relief is brought to Nigerians.

“Our immediate concern is to make petrol available through the interventions and processes put in place so that the queues will disappear within the next one to two weeks. As at yesterday, one cargo containing 42 million litres of petrol has completely discharged, two more petrol cargos with a combined 44 million litres are currently discharging, while another cargo containing 44 million litres is berthed and awaiting discharge. We have enough products lined up to ensure that the supply gap which created the problem is bridged.

“In order to ensure effective distribution, we are working with Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), oil majors and over 1,000 NNPC staff nationwide to ensure we overcome the obstacles in the distribution of the products,” he said.

Meanwhile, as rationing of fuel gets severe following the sole importer status of the NNPC, marketers have begun to lobby the corporation to get fuel allocation at the depots.

At the weekend, most of the filling stations, including those owned by the major marketers and NNPC were dry and it was field day for hawkers. The hawkers were seen at major streets and within filling stations selling fuel with 10-litre kegs at well over 100 per cent of the approved price. They sell the 10 litres at between ₦2,500 and ₦3,500 depending on the area of Lagos.

When The Nation spoke with some depot owners, they said the situation is critical because there is serious competition at Apapa. Marketers lobby to get supply now. If go round, you will notice that many retail outlets are selling. There is no fuel that is the fact.

Even some the major marketers that the NNPC holds in high regard, now divert allocations to areas they sell the product for a premium. The situation may not improve till well after Easter. What the Corporation does now is give a truck of fuel to one company in four days.

The announcement by the Minister of Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Emmanuel Kachikwu that fuel scarcity will not end till May, also fueled the scarcity. The public started a fresh panic-buying and hoarding in an already bad situation, and some filling stations are hoarding to sell at exorbitant price especially at nights and very early in the morning. It is unfortunate, the sources added.

However, when The Nation spoke with the Manager, Public and Government Affairs, Mobil Oil Plc, Mr. Akin Fatunke, he said reports from the company’s field officers showed there was fuel and the firm was loading and pumping. He stated that generally there was tightness due to the foreign exchange issue, which prevents many marketing firms from importing.

He said: “Actually there is fuel. Mobil, Total and Forte are heavily importing on their own aside the allocations from NNPC. But let me talk about Mobil Oil alone. We are loading and pumping fuel. We have been loading trucks from our depot and also pumping at our filling station but remember we also bridge to other states of the country. We don’t supply Lagos alone, we take care of our customers in the north, south east and south-south.

“We loaded yesterday, will load today and on Monday. Our filling stations that you said are not selling will get supply shortly and start selling. But the general situation is that there is a lot of tightness in supply and distribution channels owing to the foreign exchange (FOREX) limitation issue because it is restricting many marketers from importing fuel.

“Mobil imports all of its allocations as allotted by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). We import we our money, obey the basic rules of the business that is the reason there is convergence on our stations. We expect to receive a cargo on Tuesday and will continue pumping.”