Fuel queues hit Abuja
Fuel scarcity looms in the nation’s capital, Abuja, as commuters and commercial drivers formed long queues at fuel stations in different parts of the city on Friday.
While there were queues at some filling stations visited on Friday, other stations were under lock and key.
When this newspaper visited one of the stations, Chukuemeka Eze, a road transport worker, told PREMIUM TIMES that he had been in the queue in Apo for four hours under the scorching sun.
Mr Eze told this reporter he had noticed the queues on Thursday but said he overlooked it and planned to get the fuel on his way out on Friday.
“I came out earlier (8:30 am) than I should have today hoping that I will get the fuel and resume mid-day work by 11 am, but I have not bought fuel at 1 pm.
“I just have hope that I am already inside the filling station,” he said.
The filling station, Fynefield, at Apo Resettlement, had locked its gates preventing new vehicles from coming in.
Queues at any of the retail outlets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited are usually long on a normal day because the outlets sell fuel for N617 per litre, lower than most other outlets where the price can be as high as N680.
But at the NNPC station, our reporter observed that the queue has since Thursday gone worse causing traffic in the Central Business District Area, Apo, around Herbert Macaulay Way.
Other filling stations in Banex, Apo, Kubwa, and Lugbe areas of the city sold fuel at prices ranging from N617 to N680.
Nipco filling stations in Banex and Wuse 2 had long queues Friday afternoon, as well as NNPC Ltd stations at Kubwa Express and Arab Road.
As of Friday morning, NNPC Ltd and Mobil filling station at Airport Road all had long queues.
At Life Camp, a young man was seen pushing his motorcycle to a park from the opposite side of AA Rano filling station, Dape, just before Karmo Market. The man, Haruna Ismail, said he had been working for the day with the 3 litres of fuel he bought from the black market.
“My fuel finished not far from here and I can not continue to buy black market; I pray they sell to me in this jerrycan,” he said as he hurriedly made his way to the already rowdy selling point.
Black marketers have since taken advantage of the situation as they now move around crowded filling stations, selling fuel at prices ranging between N1,000 to N1,500 per litre.
NNPC speaks
The cause of the queue is yet to be known as of press time Friday.
However, the spokesperson of the NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, told this newspaper that there is no cause for alarm.
“There is no Scarcity, we have abundant products and there is no cause for alarm,” he said.
In February, fuel scarcity hit Abuja as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) directed its members to withdraw services.
NARTO, in a letter dated 15 February and signed by its National President Othman Yusuf, instructed its members to stop petroleum product loading activities starting from Monday, 19 February. This decision was made due to the industry’s high operational costs.
The association expressed concern about the steep cost of diesel needed to fuel its trucks for transporting petroleum products across Nigeria. It highlighted the challenging economic conditions, stating that continuing business operations has become unsustainable.
In the letter, NARTO appealed for support and understanding from the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and its members. Despite efforts to negotiate fair freight rates with industry authorities, including the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, NARTO stated that these efforts had not yielded positive outcomes.
Consequently, the NARTO National Executive Council (NEC) decided that all members should withhold their petroleum trucks from loading activities starting from 19 February.
It later directed its members to resume petroleum loading activities after some agreements were reached.
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Fuel scarcity looms in the nation’s capital, Abuja, as commuters and commercial drivers formed long queues at fuel stations in different parts of the city on Friday.
While there were queues at some filling stations visited on Friday, other stations were under lock and key.
When this newspaper visited one of the stations, Chukuemeka Eze, a road transport worker, told PREMIUM TIMES that he had been in the queue in Apo for four hours under the scorching sun.
Mr Eze told this reporter he had noticed the queues on Thursday but said he overlooked it and planned to get the fuel on his way out on Friday.
“I came out earlier (8:30 am) than I should have today hoping that I will get the fuel and resume mid-day work by 11 am, but I have not bought fuel at 1 pm.
“I just have hope that I am already inside the filling station,” he said.
The filling station, Fynefield, at Apo Resettlement, had locked its gates preventing new vehicles from coming in.
Queues at any of the retail outlets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited are usually long on a normal day because the outlets sell fuel for N617 per litre, lower than most other outlets where the price can be as high as N680.
But at the NNPC station, our reporter observed that the queue has since Thursday gone worse causing traffic in the Central Business District Area, Apo, around Herbert Macaulay Way.
Other filling stations in Banex, Apo, Kubwa, and Lugbe areas of the city sold fuel at prices ranging from N617 to N680.
Nipco filling stations in Banex and Wuse 2 had long queues Friday afternoon, as well as NNPC Ltd stations at Kubwa Express and Arab Road.
As of Friday morning, NNPC Ltd and Mobil filling station at Airport Road all had long queues.
At Life Camp, a young man was seen pushing his motorcycle to a park from the opposite side of AA Rano filling station, Dape, just before Karmo Market. The man, Haruna Ismail, said he had been working for the day with the 3 litres of fuel he bought from the black market.
“My fuel finished not far from here and I can not continue to buy black market; I pray they sell to me in this jerrycan,” he said as he hurriedly made his way to the already rowdy selling point.
Black marketers have since taken advantage of the situation as they now move around crowded filling stations, selling fuel at prices ranging between N1,000 to N1,500 per litre.
NNPC speaks
The cause of the queue is yet to be known as of press time Friday.
However, the spokesperson of the NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, told this newspaper that there is no cause for alarm.
“There is no Scarcity, we have abundant products and there is no cause for alarm,” he said.
In February, fuel scarcity hit Abuja as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) directed its members to withdraw services.
NARTO, in a letter dated 15 February and signed by its National President Othman Yusuf, instructed its members to stop petroleum product loading activities starting from Monday, 19 February. This decision was made due to the industry’s high operational costs.
The association expressed concern about the steep cost of diesel needed to fuel its trucks for transporting petroleum products across Nigeria. It highlighted the challenging economic conditions, stating that continuing business operations has become unsustainable.
In the letter, NARTO appealed for support and understanding from the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and its members. Despite efforts to negotiate fair freight rates with industry authorities, including the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, NARTO stated that these efforts had not yielded positive outcomes.
Consequently, the NARTO National Executive Council (NEC) decided that all members should withhold their petroleum trucks from loading activities starting from 19 February.
It later directed its members to resume petroleum loading activities after some agreements were reached.
Support PREMIUM TIMES’ journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
Donate
TEXT AD: Call Willie – +2348098788999
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