20th June, 2022
Long queues have resurfaced at filling stations across Lagos Ibadan expressway, Ikorodu road, Iju Ishaga, Agege, and, Beger, Obalende, Alausa, and Ikoyi on Monday.
Our correspondent who moved around observed that as a result of the queues at filling stations, there was a scarcity of vehicles, and many passengers were stranded at various bus stops in Lagos State.
Commercial drivers who spoke to our correspondents at Iju Ishaga said the queues were due to fuel scarcity, particularly the Premium Motor Spirit.
A driver, who identified himself as Mr. Quadri, said, “I discovered that some petrol stations were shut this morning and I began to see queues in some stations that opened, so I could not risk it, I decided to come and join this queue. They (Petrol attendants) are saying there is no fuel but it seems they only want to sell it at a high price.”
Another driver identified as Kunlery said: “As you can see, there is a long queue and all we heard was that another fuel scarcity is looming. Some filling stations already closed down.”
What we found out
The scarcity, according to our findings, is caused by increased demand for the product due to fears that the Federal Government may remove fuel subsidies soon.
But it was also clear that some filling stations deliberately decided to hoard fuels in order to sell above N160 per liter.
What they are saying about the scarcity
The Manager of one of the Enyo filling stations on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, who preferred anonymity, explained that his management decided to sell only N3,000 worth of fuel to each motorist on Sunday afternoon in order to manage the little fuel they have.
On why the station took such a decision, he said, “We were informed to do that because nobody knows the decision the Federal Government may take this week or soon. There is a tendency that the price may go up this week.
“The tanker drivers are not also finding it easy to buy diesel, whose price has skyrocketed too. Diesel is too expensive and at the same time scarce. If they don’t get diesel, how will they supply us fuel?”
A fuel attendant at an Oando filling station, who spoke with our analyst, disclosed that the directive to shut the station was given by its manager on Sunday afternoon.
He said, “The manager asked us to shut the station not because there is no fuel but because the price of fuel may go up this week due to the scarcity of the product.”
What IPMAN is saying
Mr. Okoronkwo said the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine had disrupted the smooth distribution of petrol.
He noted that marketers and transporters are now finding it difficult to bridge products to other parts of the country from the depots because of running costs.
“The huge amount spent on running the diesel trucks to transport fuel is very discouraging because we are running at a loss.
“The current N165 per litre pump price for PMS cannot fit into the present realities without the pricing template being reviewed.
“We appeal to the government to look into the situation by either reviewing the freight rate or providing palliatives to all marketers to restore normalcy to distribution.
“The palliative can be making diesel accessible for marketers at discounted rates so that we can easily transport products across the country,” Mr. Okoronkwo said.