INVESTIGATIONS by Nigerian Tribune, on Monday, revealed that hawkers have taken control of fuel distribution in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. This is just as filling stations in Lagos refused to sell the product to motorists.
Even right beside some of the filling stations, many people were seen taking advantage of the fuel scarcity, turning themselves into emergency fuel hawkers, thus leaving the people to wonder where they got their fuel.
One of the hawkers, Shehu by name, who was seen clutching a 10-litre jerrycan filled with fuel, told the Nigerian Tribune that somebody at the nearby filling station gave him and some of his colleagues the cans of fuel to sell at a discount.
Ten litres of fuel now sell for between N1,500 and N2,000 at the black market, in the federal capital, depending on the buyers’ bargaining power.
Though the filling stations in Abuja were still selling petrol at N65 per litre, motorists said they preferred to buy the product from the hawkers to spending hours at the filling stations.
Nigerian Tribune checks revealed that the security operatives that ought to put a stop to the activities of the hawkers were the ones helping them to get the fuel they sell to the members of the public at exorbitant prices.
In most of the filling stations visited by the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, some policemen were seen on motorcycles, conveying fuel from filling stations and selling same to the hawkers.
The long queues at the filling stations, according to Nigerian Tribune investigations, may not be unconnected with the decision of some of the filling stations to dispense fuel to buyers from one or two pumps, thereby creating unending queues of vehicles waiting to be served at the various stations.
The long queues and the activities of the fuel hawkers have made commercial vehicle drivers to jack up transport fares to the displeasure of commuters.
Transport fare from Wuse to Jabi, which used to be N30 now is N50, while the fare from Federal Secretariat to Wuse that used to be N40 is now N50.
Consequently, many workers and other commuters were stranded at various bus stops as the number of vehicles on the roads decreased. This made many workers to report late to work.
As at 9.00 a.m. when the Nigerian Tribune visited the Federal Secretariat, many offices were empty while there were many people at the bus stops on the Airport road.
On the Maraba and Kubwa axises of the FCT, the Nigerian Tribune learnt that the situation was the same, as commuters spent long hours waiting endlessly for vehicles to take them to their various destinations.
Many of the frustrated commuters, who spoke with our correspondents, vented their anger on the Federal Government, which they accused of being insensitive to the plight of the common man.
According to the commuters, the government should be blamed for the latest round of fuel scarcity, which they said was harsher than the one witnessed in September.
However, unless the Federal Government comes to the rescue of some of the filling stations, the of the commuters’ may continue unabated.
Meanwhile, in spite of threat by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to seal off any filling station that refused to sell petroleum products, many filling stations in Lagos metropolis yesterday ignored the threat, making the situation to become more unbearable. The DPR said, on Sunday, that it had set up a task force to monitor the activities of the stations in order to ease the difficulties being experienced in buying the products, especially the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.
The Director of DPR, Mr Godwin Billy-Agha, had disclosed while giving the warning that there was no reason for the scarcity, that “we have formed a task force on 24-hour surveillance of filling stations in the country, anybody found hoarding fuel will face the full wrath of the law. Nigerians should know that there is enough fuel in the country. People should stop buying in panicky manner.”
However, a drive round Lagos revealed that many filling stations were not selling the product.
At the stations visited at Ikotun, Egbeda, Ikeja, Abule Egba Berger, Oworonsoki and some parts of Lagos Island, station attendants refused to sell to potential buyers. When asked the reason for the action, they said “they have not told us to sell; who told you we have fuel? Go and ask our oga, he will tell you what is happening.”
Attempts by the Nigerian Tribune to speak with the managers of the stations were rebuffed, as many of them refused to speak on the matter.
In its reaction, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on Monday said that the marketers, who tried to sabotage the efforts of the government, would be dealt with. A statement from the office of the General Manager, Group Public Affairs, NNPC, Dr Levi Ajuonuma, stated that marketers and other stakeholders in the system should cooperate for effective fuel distribution.
He said cheap blackmail and campaign of calumny or refusal to sell would not solve the crisis, stating that the DPR and NNPC would not rest until the situation was brought under control. He noted that the nation had enough in reserve to take the consumers through the festive season and charged all those concerned to work together.
But the President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadir, accused NNPC of causing the imbroglio, saying “Why is it that we did not experience queues until NNPC took off importation? Where did they stock the fuel, let them tell Nigerians. The truth is that NNPC has stopped marketers from importing and so, we don’t have enough products.”
Many motorists who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune called on the government and marketers to have a rethink and make life easy for Nigerians. “This product is our product naturally, why then, do we need to experience this agony, why can,t government come out with the true position of things and stop exchanging words with the marketers and labour on the pages of newspapers? please tell them we are suffering,” one of them said.
Some touts in the Sabo area of Ibadan have started to hawk petrol on the streets at N600 per four litres for motorists who could not queue at filling stations as long queues continued in some filling stations that opened for business.
The Nigeria Tribune drove round Ibadan metropolison Monday and some filling stations were seen under lock and key, while some were selling but not before collecting N200.00 from motorists.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Tribune gathered that at about two million litres of petrol was loaded at the Nigerian National Petroleum company (NNPC) Apata, Ibadan, on Monday and a large quantity of the product was sent to Abuja.
The source disclosed that only a little quantity of the two million litres was distributed among the over 400 filling stations in Oyo State to avert scarcity in the state.
Speaking on the issue, the Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Akanni Oyewole, promised that “we at our level will ensure that IPMAN members sell their fuel at control price and would not hoard the product in order not to make motorists suffer unnecessary hardship.”
Contrary to official explanation, the Action Congress (AC), on Monday, claimed that the current fuel scarcity was deliberately induced by Federal Government to pave the way for the deregulation of the downstream oil sector.
“The calculation seems to be to first ensure that there is scarcity of petroleum products, subject Nigerians to untold hardships and risks while they search for the products and then quietly raise fuel prices, which is what all the noise about deregulation is meant to achieve,’’ the party said.
In a statement issued in London on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the AC stated that despite assurances from some government officials, who said the scarcity was artificial, it might be slowly but deliberately orchestrated to force Nigerians to swallow the bitter pill of deregulation.
AC said despite the outcry of concerned individuals and groups, especially the organised labour, “the government has insisted on proceeding with the ill-thought-out deregulation, especially now that the policy is out of sync with the economic realities on the ground.”
The party said the government’s nonchalance was perhaps “because its mandate to govern the nation was not derived from the people.
“If this government had felt that it would require the people’s votes, it would have thought more deeply before inflicting more pain on citizens that are already left battered by economic woes. After all, governments have been voted out of office elsewhere over less critical issues.
“But since votes rarely count in these climes, the government believe it is alright to treat the people as mere subjects and disregard their opinions in decision making,’’ it said.
The AC said it was particularly unfortunate that the fuel queues, especially in Abuja and Lagos, had come at a time that Nigeria was hosting the world, with the Under-17 World Cup in full swing.
“It is a shock as to why the government has decided to embarrass the country by timing its deregulation plan to coincide with the World Cup. The government can deny all it likes that the deregulation is not about to take off now, but a government official announced that it will take off November 1st, causing the current scarcity.
“If unscrupulous marketers now capitalise on the announcement to engage in hoarding of the products, with the satanic aim of maximising profits, the blame should be laid squarely on the shoulders of an unperceptive government,’’ the party said.