As the nation groans under the crippling effects of the week-long fuel scarcity, the end may be in sight with the resolution of the delayed release of the N17 billion owed Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
The association is believed to be behind the current dearth of petroleum products as the marketers failed to lift products on account of the debt. The situation, has however, not eased the long queues at the petrol stations across the country.
This is coming on a day that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the agency statutorily mandated to test and issue quality control certificates for refined petroleum products coming into the country told the House of Representatives that it has no laboratories or equipment to carry out its mandate which has resulted in the over-flooding of the country, with bio-fuels, which is found to be unsuitable for automobiles and dangerous to humans.
It was gathered that IPMAN had already directed its 10,000 members nationwide to flock all Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depots and the Nipco depot in Lagos with a capacity of 50 million litres.
Alhaji Danladi Pasali, National Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, said in Abuja that the NNPC had told IPMAN, which control 90% of all the petrol stations, that six vessels loaded with 180 metric tonnes of petrol had arrived the Lagos port and would begin discharging the product into NNPC terminals.
IPMAN also assured its Public Relations Officer, that its members would heed the directive. The association�s decision to call off what might be regarded as work-to-rule came after the NNPC purportedly gave concrete assurance that it had finalised arrangement to pay its members the outstanding N17 billion bridging claims owed them, which had crippled most of them from loading at far-away depots.
The Group General Manager, Public Affairs of NNPC, Mr. Levi Ajuonuma, had announced on Monday that what was being experienced at the petrol stations was not scarcity but a mere �hiccup�.
This hiccup, he said, was caused by people who bought petrol in their vehicles and offloaded same into jerry cans, then drums and finally into tankers, which they used to dispose of the product.
�With well-armed policemen, we are going on a raid now to bust some of these illegal dumps around the city, so you can see how fellow countrymen have decided to constitute themselves into bottlenecks, to create problems for others,� Ajuonuma told reporters in a pre-raid briefing.
But when reporters got to the first of the dumps, a massive parcel of oil-degraded land behind Jinifa Plaza in Central Business District, there were hundreds of drums, a few cabs and a tanker with diesel.
None had petrol. One other �fuel dump� visited at 14 Alexandria Street behind Barnex Plaza, Wuse II, Abuja yielded only one jerry can of petrol and some diesel while a few jerry cans of petrol were found at the two remaining sites at Wuse II by Texaco and at Area 11.
But in Ekiti State, several fuel stations in Ado-Ekiti, still remained shut over lack of the commodity to sell for the public. This was so, as very long queues became regular features of the few ones where the commodity was available for sale.
Besides the fact that the commodity was very scarce, the price has suddenly been jerked up, as expected, where it was available, from the official price of N70 per litre to N75 per litre.
It was a different tale in Osun State as the state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) yesterday sealed up 16 filling stations in Osogbo, the state capital, for allegedly selling petrol above the original pump price.
The commandant of the NSCDC Mr. Sam Ejiofor, who spoke with THISDAY said the NSCDC acted in accordance with the provisions of section 3 subsection 31 of the civil Defence Amendment Acts 2007.
In Lagos, residents yesterday heaved a sigh of relief from the tortuous period of fuel scarcity as indications emerged that the DPR has cleared some of the consignments carrying petroleum products offshore Lagos.
THISDAY Checks also revealed that the major marketers in the Apapa axis are now lifting fuel to service retail outlets all over the country.
This, move has come with positive impact on product availability, as the long queues that became a familiar sight in the last three days, at the outlets in the state, have reduced drastically as at yesterday.
Apr92008