Almost five weeks after the Department of State Services (DSS) stepped into an excruciating scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS, known on the streets of Nigeria as petrol) and put to an end to the scarcity in 48 hours, many across the country are wondering why the DSS has gone quiet this time around.
While many wonder, motorists in Lagos, Abuja and other states, have frowned at the current fuel scarcity being experienced in the territory and environs.
Everyday.ng reports that last December, the nation’s secret police gave a 48-hour ultimatum to major stakeholders in downstream sector of the oil sector, especially the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and oil marketers, to resolve the ongoing, inexplicable scarcity then.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) last week in Abuja, the motorists, representative of others in the country, expressed displeasure over the reoccurence of long queues at most fuelling stations.
They urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and other regulatory bodies to aggressively monitor fueling stations that appear to be hoarding petroleum products.
According to the motorists, such fuelling stations should be sanctioned.
NAN Correspondent who monitored some fuelling stations in the territory reports that most of them were not selling petroleum products while only few were seen selling.
The long queues had caused heavy gridlocks around the areas where the fueling stations selling fuel were located.
The development had caused hardship on commuters as transportation was difficult to get.
The motorists also have the perception that some marketers and fueling stations were hoarding the products.
NAN reports that some of the fueling stations dispensing the products include the Conoil and Total fueling stations opposite the NNPC Towers, which had long queues.
At Karshi road, only three stations including Forte Oil, Conoil and Best Albino (Black Market) were selling fuel at between N180 and N285, while NNPC Limited Outlet in Karu was selling at N179.
NNPCL Retail station and SALBAS fueling station close to Gwarimpa-Kado flyover along Kubwa expressway had fuel but with long queues.
The motorists urged the authorities to revoke the licences of fueling stations that have not dispensed products for months.
A motorist, Mr Godfrey Aremosele who decried the current scarcity said motorists were suspecting that those stations not selling fuel were lifting products to sell at higher prices in other states and outskirts, thereby causing shortage in Abuja.
Mr Donald Ugwu, another motorist said the situation was not predictable, adding that the suspicion was that marketers were trying to create artificial scarcity to hike the pump price from N180 being sold by some of their members.
According to him, it has not been easy for us during and after the yuletide as fuel price has been high in some areas and states which contributed to the high transportation fare experienced by travellers.
“In Enugu, I bought fuel last week at N340 per litre. I just bought today at N280 per litre at Haris fueling station Maraba, Nasarawa state.
“The government needs to address issues bordering on fuel crisis,” he said.
Another motorist who claimed anonomity expressed displeasure at the situation, adding that there were a lot of things being hidden in the oil and gas sector especially in the subsidy regime.
“It is better to remove the subsidy completely for Nigerians to know the real price of petrol and face it squarely, ” the motorist said.
The motorists, however, called on the NNPC Limited and other oil regulatory bodies to swing into action and enforce surveillance to fish out marketers and fuelling stations that were hoarding fuel.
NAN reports that as at the time of filing this report, effort made for authorities to react is yet to yield positive result.
▪︎ Additional report by NAN.