Vice President Goodluck Jonathan’s widely publicised order to Petroleum Minister Rilwanu Lukman on Wednesday to forgo his Christmas break and tackle acute fuel scarcity across the country turned out to be too little, too late as fuel shortage severely disrupted preparations for Christmas all over the country.
Our correspondents reported that up until the evening of Christmas Eve, long queues persisted at petrol filling stations all over the country and motorists struggled to get fuel, often resulting in chaotic scenes. Black marketers made brisk business near the filling stations and on the highways all over the country, leading to a drastic increase in the cost of fuel to as much as N1,200 a gallon in Abuja and Lagos. Many people simply abandoned plans to travel home for Christmas due to the steep rise in transport fares.
In Katsina, a litre of petrol sold at N105 at filling stations yesterday, against the official price of N65. Road side petrol sellers popularly known as black marketers made brisk business in Katsina metropolis as fuel scarcity hit very hard. Major streets in the city were taken over by the black marketers while officials at the NNPC Mega station were not available for comment.
In Sokoto, our correspondent reports that motorists had a very hard time obtaining fuel in the run up to Christmas. While fuel was being sold at the town’s only NNPC mega station at N65 per litre, a queue several kilometres long was formed by motorists. Independent filling stations however sold petrol at between N90 and N100 per litter, and they too had long queues formed by motorists.
Fuel scarcity also persisted in Damaturu and other major towns of Yobe State, with a litre selling at N150 and above yesterday. Reports from other parts of the state including Gashua, Nguru and Gaidam showed that the price was even higher, with road side vendors taking advantage of passengers travelling for Christmas to make excessive profits.
Our correspondent who went round Damaturu yesterday reports that the NNPC Mega Station and all the major marketers including Total, Texaco, AP were not selling fuel. Hundreds of commuters were seen stranded at motor parks and by the roadside as most commercial vehicles had no fuel to move. A few independent marketers that were selling petrol at very high prices were jam-packed with very long queues of vehicles and motorcycles stretching over two kilometres.
Our correspondents also report that there is acute shortage of fuel in all parts of Kano State, which they said has persisted for several weeks now. According to Daily Trust checks, where the fuel is available, a litre of petrol is now sold between N110 and N120 depending on the petrol station.
There are also long queues of vehicles stretching, in some cases, at least almost a kilometre long in most petrol stations owned by major marketers all in anticipation of the commodity. It was observed that the major marketers dispense the fuel at the approved rate of N65 per litre at their filling stations but hardly one could it.
Daily Trust also observed that most of petrol stations leased out to NNPC run short of petrol.
The black market operators cashed in on the situation by selling the product at exorbitant rates. At the open market, a gallon of petrol sold for N600 or N650 yesterday. Commercial motorists in the state also increased transport fares by 25%.
Kano NNPC depot manager Aliyu Maikano could not give reasons for the scarcity when contacted last night by Daily Trust. He said he could not talk as depot managers all over the federation had been directed not to talk to the press, except the NNPC corporate affairs department Abuja.
Meanwhile, over 70 jerry cans of petrol were yesterday seized in filling stations in Lagos by the Department of Petroleum Resources [DPR]. Some of the jerry cans contained fuel.
The seizure came on the heels of the agency’s announcement banning the sale of fuel in jerry cans. DPR’s director Mr Billy Agha said at a press briefing in Lagos yesterday that there was sufficient fuel in the country, adding that there was no reason why marketers should hoard products in the filling stations.
Agha, who later led the enforcement team of DPR on a spot check in some filling stations, confiscated over 70 jerry-cans.
He said any filing stations found selling products in jerry cans would be sanctioned. He said DPR has constituted eight control centres across the country through which Nigerians can channel their complaints. The centres include Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar, Kaduna and Maiduguri.
He further said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Mr Odein Ajumogobia had ordered the DPR to maintain 24-hour surveillance around fuel stations across the country.