Fuel Crisis: Long queue reappears in Lagos, Ogun, FCT…there is no scarcity in Lagos – NNPC

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News Monday, March 3rd, 2014

Kayode Adelowokan, Lagos

Lagos, Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have continued to witness long queues at petrol stations in the states while motorists from Oyo state travelled out of the state to get black market.

The spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, however described the reappearance of long queues of vehicles at filling stations in Lagos as an artificially induced scarcity.

Ibrahim maintained that there were absolutely no reasons for filling stations not to sell fuel to the people.

He acknowledged that there had been a similar situation in Abuja in the previous week and the special task force comprising NNPC, PPPRA, and the DPR went out to ensure that all the lines in Abuja were decimated.

He also said that NNPC did not believe that there is fuel scarcity in Lagos rather, it believed that people were hoarding because some think government was going to raise the price of petrol.

“There is no truth in the assumption. Government is not, as far as we know, going to raise any price, and retailers who have fuel in their tanks should please release it for people to buy.”

The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Obafemi Olaore, said the Federal Government through the PPPRA has released the first quarter allocation of fuel importation to petroleum marketers on February 20, 2014, who will now commence importation of the product.

Olaore said though importers ought to have brought in the products in the next one month.

Mr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, also confirmed the released fund, adding that there are vessels on the West African waters waiting to come into Nigeria and he did not feel the marketers would delay in getting the products into the country.

The NNPC spokesman insisted that the fuel scarcity in Lagos had nothing to do with the importation of the products rather, the deliberate act of the filling stations to hoard the product, providing instances as experienced by the special task force to validate the view.

He however assured that task force will embark on nationwide raid to clear the long queues in Lagos and other places starting from Monday, March 3, 2014.