It started as a routine scarcity weeks ago in some parts of the country. Now, long queues have resurfaced in many parts of the country as motorists and Nigerians hit the streets in search of the elusive Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol or fuel. Hike in the price of petrol has also been reported in most parts of the country, as Saturday Sun investigations reveal.
From Abuja, FRED EZEH reports that petrol has become more scarce and inaccessible at fuel stations, while roadside vendors sell at uncontrolled prices. As at Thursday, only few fuel stations sold petrol at the official price of N179/N180 a litre, even as fuel queues stretched kilometres.
In Lagos, the fuel crisis is biting far harder than before. LUKMAN OLABIYI reports that most filling stations across the metropolis are under lock and key, while the few ones that open sell for between N200 and N250 per litre. Commuters crowd various bus stops, as many public transport operators have abandoned the roads. Those that operate have increased fares for about 100 per cent. Several fuel stations were under lock, as motorists regret spending hours in long fuel queues.
In Oyo State, petrol scarcity is biting harder. OLUSEYE OJO reports that motorists and commuters in Oyo State, in the past few days, have been going through hell over fuel scarcity. From Ibadan, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Oke-Ogun, and Ibarapa, which are the major five zones in the state, the story has been the same.
A tour of different parts of the state revealed that majority of fuel stations have locked their gates, while a few that have been dispensing experience very long queues. The pump price per litre in the state at present ranges from N180 to N380. The queues at the outlets of the major marketers that have been dispensing at N180 have been as long as three kilometres. It has also been a tug of war at the fuel stations where petrol is being sold for between N250 and N380. Motorists, motorcyclists, and tricycle operators have also been begging to get fuel for their vehicles there.
But black market sales for the commodity have been booming in the state capital. A keg of four litre goes for N2,500 at Sabo, Mokola, Ibadan, the state capital. Some vehicle owners who did not want to queue for fuel have been driving to Sabo to buy some kegs of petrol.
Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said that it is no longer possible to sell a litre of petrol at N180 per litre, especially in Oyo and Osun States, based on exorbitant landing cost of the commodity.
From Port Harcourt, TONY JOHN reports that the astronomical petrol hike in Rivers State has given serious concerns to the residents, from automobile owners to power generating sets owners.
Before now, Rivers residents used to buy fuel at N185.00 per litre, but, currently, fuel is sold between N240 and N250 per litre. However, there is no widespread scarcity of petroleum products in Rivers State. Though not all filling stations in the state capital Port are selling, a good number of them have fuel supply.
The only place with noticeable long queues of vehicles in Port Harcourt City since the hike has been the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) mega station where fuel is sold at N179 per litre.
In Enugu, it is a tale of woes. Our reporter in Enugu, JUDE CHINEDU, says there has been a sharp increase in transport fares across major routes in Enugu metropolis owing to the high price of premium motor spirit in the state.
It was observed that the pump price of the commodity rose from N185 to N250 per litre. The reporter who went round petrol stations in the urban centre observed that apart from NNPC, Pinnacle and North West filling stations that still maintained the old pump price of N185, other stations sell at N250.
There is however no scarcity of the product, as it is available in most feeling stations.
Saturday Sun also observed that there has been a 30 per cent increase in transport fares in the state capital. Abia State residents are groaning like residents in other parts of the country because of the hike. OKEY SAMPSON, who reports from Umuahia, says, despite the fact that there is no noticeable scarcity of petroleum products within the state, pump prices of these products have gone high.
Almost all the fuel stations in most cities of the state have petroleum products and are dispensing them accordingly, yet the prices are on the high side. For the past weeks, pump prices of fuel have gone up to N250 from N190, while kerosene, which was selling for N1,000 per litre, is now selling for between N1,400 and N1,500.
Some of the marketers, who spoke to our correspondent, attributed the hike to the slump of the naira and the high cost of landing of imported fuel which the country depends largely on.
In Ebonyi State, there is no fuel scarcity, according to our reporter, CHIJIOKE AGWU. In Abakaliki and its environs, there are no queues in any filling stations. The issue, rather, is the sudden hike of the product to 250 naira per litre. Some filling stations in rural areas sell for between N300 and N350 a litre
In Bayelsa, fuel scarcity is still lingering, reports FEMI FOLARANMI from Yenagoa. The fuel scarcity triggered by the 2022 flooding in the state has lingered, forcing residents of Yenagoa, the capital city, to patronise the black market. Even the 410,000 litres of petrol procured by the state government and distributed to selected petrol stations, to be sold at N188 per litre as part of efforts to ameliorate the suffering of the people, has not been effective, as most of the petrol stations chose to hoard the product.
Findings around Yenagoa metropolis indicated the few petrol stations that have fuel are selling at N300 per litre with long queues to contend with. The petrol stations that have fuel in Yenagoa are Shafa, Emily and Paedos, where there is a long queue. The NNPC mega station, which is the only petrol station that sells petrol at the official rate of N179 per litre, has not been opened for days now due to non-availability of products for its tankers to lift products to Yenagoa. Many now procure fuel at the black market at the Sani Abacha Expressway and Mbiama/ Yenagoa.
In Kebbi State, the oil marketers have started selling fuel between N250 per litre within Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, and N350 per litre in Ilo Town, a border community between Niger Republic and Benin Republic.
Most of the filing stations, considered to be independent marketers, which have not been having PMS for some months, now have the product, and selling between N250 and N270 respectively.
OLANREWAJU LAWAL reports that at the NNPC stations where fuel sells for N185 per litre, there is a long queue. Similarly, at the A.A. Rano, the product is also being sold at the N185 per litre. Due to the high cost of fuel, commercial motorcyclists have increased their fare from N100 to N150 for short distance routes while commercial drivers have jerked up their fare from N200 to N400. A trip to Kontagora from Birnin Kebbi that was N3, 000 now costs N3.500. Transport fares to Ilorin, Kwara State and Lagos State that used to cost N8,000 and N9,000 respectively have been jerked up to N10,000 and 12,000 respectively.
Fuel scarcity is biting hard in Jos, says GYANG BERE, our correspondent in Plateau State. This has been inflicting agony and untold hardship on motorists and commuters who have suffered for several months queuing in filling stations searching for fuel. Most stations in the state now sell for between N250 and N300 per litre. Those who could not afford the black market sleep endlessly at the mega stations, where the queues stretch for kilometres.
Sadly, one cannot authoritatively point out the reason behind the scourging fuel scarcity, as many blamed it earlier on the flood that held the tanker drivers in Kogi State.
It was learned that those who are meant to supply the fuel usually divert it to black marketers to exploit the masses by doubling the pump price. Dachung Pam, a motorist, who spoke to Saturday Sun, lamented that this has been the situation during the Yuletide season. He said he was praying that the scarcity should not last till the Christmas period, but it seems it may last beyond that. He has appealed to the federal government, therefore, to take urgent steps to reduce the hardship on Nigerians.
SCHOLASTICA ONYEKA in Makurdi reports that in Benue, fuel scarcity is biting so hard as most fuel stations are closed due to unavailability of fuel, while those who have experience chaotic situations with long fuel queues.
Our correspondent also observed that their is disparity in prices. While some fuel stations are selling for between N240 and N250 per litre, the black marketers are selling at N400, with only the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation, NNPC mega stations selling at the official price of N195. The situation has made commuters and car owners stranded, even as transport fares have increased. A fare from Makurdi to Otukpo, which used to be N1,000 is now N1500, while from Makurdi to Gboko, which was hitherto N500, now goes for N1000. Residents fear that, if the situation is not addressed, things will get worse, especially for those who will be travelling for the Christmas celebration.
OBINNA ODOGWU reports from Awka, Anambra State, that, though fuel has been available in the state, the pump price has gone up to N240 per litre. A number of fuel stations visited by our reporter had fuel and were all selling.
At Silluch fuel station in Okpuno community, Awka South Local Government Area of the state, the pump attendant told the reporter that she had no idea while the price of fuel had gone up. It was also the same experience at Rain Oil along the Awka-Onitsha Expressway in the same Local Government.
In Kaduna, black marketers have taken over sales. NOAH EBIJE reports that black marketers have taken over sales of PMS. Investigation showed that some fuel stations have been turned to black markets, apparently hoarding the commodity. These black marketers operate mostly in independent fuel stations in the outskirts of Kaduna metropolis, selling for between N255 and N270 per litre. A visible angry customer on a fuel queue was overheard by our correspondent, saying, “I think there is no reason for fuel scarcity, but because most stations are hoarding and rationing the fuel to maximise profits.” However, those roadside black marketers, who are retailing in containers, sell for N300 per litre.
Saturday Sun findings indicated that very few major marketers, like Total, Oando, Mobil, NNPC and few independent marketers, like AA Rano and Shafa, sell at the official price of N185 per litre. Long queues were only seen at fuel stations that sell for official price of N185 per litre.
In Taraba, fuel scarcity bites harder, reports SYLVANUS VIASHIMA, from Jalingo. Residents of Jalingo, the state capital, and other major towns across the state, have continued to groan as fuel scarcity bites harder, leading to soaring prices in transport fares and other goods, especially food stuff.
In Jalingo, the only fuel station that sells at the official rate of N189 is the NNPC mega station while other stations sell for as much as N250 per litre. At the black market, it is N350 a litre.
According to Mr Samuel Adamu, “the most frustrating thing is that most times you don’t even see fuel to buy even when you have your money. The danger in buying from the black market is that you cannot even guarantee the quality of the product they are selling to you, despite selling at twice the official price.”
Meanwhile, transport fares have increased by more than 50 per cent, while prices of foodstuff have also spiked as traders complain about the high cost of transporting products to the markets.
From Niger State, JOHN ADAMS reports that independent marketers are having a field day as the product sells for N250 per litre. He noted that the situation has assumed a different dimension in Minna, with no single major marketers having the commodity to sell, leaving the Independent marketers to hike the price of the commodity. While almost all the Independent marketers have enough of the commodity to sell at exorbitant prices of N250 per litre, and operating 24 hours, the major marketers had their stations under lock and key. Only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) mega station in Minna occasionally sells the commodity at the approved pump price of N185 per litre under a very chaotic situation.
According to our findings, the situation is the same in all the three other major towns in the state, and these include Suleja, Bida and Kontagora. Although nobody is ready to comment on the current situation, a station manager in one of the major filling stations in Minna, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that the situation would continue for a long time, saying that “nobody will transport fuel tanker from Lagos to any part of Niger State and will sell it at the approved pump prize of N185 per litre. It is not possible because the cost of transporting the product is on the high side.
“We encounter a lot of challenges on the road apart from the bad roads, and, by the time you arrive at your destination, you discover that you can’t sell it at N185 per litre and still make profit; in fact, you cannot even get your money back,” he said. When asked where the independent marketers get their supply from, he simply said, “I don’t know. This is a free economy —everybody is free to do his legitimate business. It’s not for me to tell you where they get their supply from.”
The current fuel scarcity is also biting hard in the metropolis of Kano State, resulting in heavy losses to private motorists, commercial transport operators and business owners.
Saturday Sun investigation, according to DESMOND MGBOH, indicates that, except for NNPC depots, which are few in the state and some private filling stations, like AA Rano and Aliko that sell at the official rate of N185 per litre, all other stations in the state sell for N260 per litre while the roadside vendor sells a four-litre gallon for between N1300 and N1400
Saturday Sun gathered that, when the scarcity was first witnessed in the state, it was attributed to the blockage of the highway following the overflow of River Niger, which made it impossible for tankers to convey the product to the north.
But the fact that the scarcity has lasted this long suggests that there is something suspicious about the scarcity, including the manner in which it is sold at unchecked price in the state
Many businesses have been going under in the recent times, and many business owners express worry following the failure of the government to check the problem.
Borno State has a peculiar case. Petrol prices have soared in the state since March, according to residents who spoke to our reporter, TIMOTHY OLANREWAJU. Price of petrol has soared in Borno since March from N165 per litre to N270, residents said.
Between September and October, petrol price fluctuated between N195 and N250 in most fuel stations owned by independent marketers, a fuel attendant at the Borno State government-owned BOSCO Oil at GRA, Maiduguri, told Saturday Sun.
Saturday Sun observed by midweek that most petrol stations in Maiduguri, Borno capital, and Damaturu, Yobe State, had shut down their operations due to what they called high cost of operations. A few major marketers still sell at N198 per litre in these two state capitals, midweek, though with long queues of vehicles. Some motorists said they often spent between one and three hours to get petrol at these stations. Petrol scarcity has returned to Osun State, reports LATEEF DADA in Osogbo, as some fuel stations have stopped selling. Our correspondent’s visit to some stations in Osogbo and Iwo showed that some were selling between N240 and N260 above the normal price. It was gathered that the hike was occasioned by the fear that the federal government might increase the fuel price. Long queues were noticed in some places where they were selling at N185.
From Owerri, GEORGE ONYEJIYWA reports that, although there is no real scarcity of PMS in Imo State, fuel has been selling for N200 per litre at most filling stations since October. Right now, the product sells for between N260 and N270 outside of Owerri metropolis. But most major filling stations sell for N220.
In Akwa Ibom, petrol is N250 per litre, reports JOE EFFIONG from Uyo. According to him, the price of petrol has so far stabilised at N250 per litre in Uyo and other major towns like Eket, Ikot Ekpene, Oron, Abak, Etinan and Ikot Abasi.
Saturday Sun learned that the high cost is due to scarcity of the product as Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) was alleged not to have supplied the independent marketers of the product.
The state chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr Ubong Isong, said: “There is acute shortage in the system. NNPC is the major supplier of the product. But even the NNPC mega stations in the state do not have petrol. The private tank farms supply to IPMAN at N227-N230 per litre at Calabar. After that, we have to pay down to Akwa Ibom. So unless one sells at N250 after paying a lot for haulage, it would not be able to break even and remain in business.”
Asked whether he suspected that subsidy has been removed on petrol, Isong said NNPC has not openly said so; rather, the company has been telling the public not to engage in panic buying as the product would soon be made available even though no definite time has been fixed. The former state chairman of IPMAN, Mr Nseobong Umana, lamented that marketers pay between N300,000 and N350,000 on transport alone between Calabar and Uyo; and N450 between Port Harcourt and Uyo to bring the product.
“It is better we remove the subsidy; though it will not immediately make the price low, but it would encourage people to import and invest in the industry; and, within a short time, the price may come down,” Umana said.
From Asaba, PAUL OSUYI reports that the price of fuel across Delta State is fluctuating, depending on availability of the product in fuel stations. Most of the major marketers, such as Total, Oando and Mobil, do not have the product.
Few days ago, the NNPC mega filling station in Asaba sold the product at the approved pump price of N179.00 per litre, and it experienced long queues of vehicles with anxious motorists.
But, at the time of filing this report, the product was not being sold at NNPC mega station as the station was said to have run out of stock.
The prices at fillings owned by independent marketers in Warri, Asaba, Sapele, Agbor, Ughelli vary, however. The prices fluctuate between N230.00 and N250.00 per litre.
Despite the hike in the price, motorists scramble for the product at the few filling stations where it is being sold. The stations are characterised by long queues, chaos and disorderliness in some cases. It could not be ascertained if the development was created by artificial scarcity due to hoarding. But during the flood that cut off major roads, the scarcity was blamed on the natural disaster, as it was claimed that flood impeded the movement of product. The situation is biting harder in Asaba as residents are getting set for the Christmas and New Year celebrations. In neighbouring Edo State, TONY OSAUZO reports that fuel stations have PMS and are selling at pump prices ranging from N187 to N240. Vehicular queues are, however, noticed at few stations selling at moderate prices.
EMMANUEL ADEYEMI, reporting from Lokoja, notes that there is serious fuel scarcity in Kogi State. As a result, a litre is being sold for between N240 and N250 in some filling stations while black market sells for between N500 and N600 a litre. At the few stations that sell for lower rates, there is a long queue of vehicles and motorcycles.
From Akure, BAMIGBOLA GBOLAGUNTE reports that fuel scarcity has returned to the Ondo State capital and many other major towns in the state. In the few filling station where petrol is available, it is sold for between N250 and N300,while many filling stations did not have the product at all.
Why petrol can’t be sold for less than N250 per litre – PETROAN president
Meanwhile, President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Mr Billy Harry, in a telephone interview with Saturday Sun, lamented that Nigerian National Petroleum Company(NNPC) is under pressure because supply is currently stifled.
He told ADEWALE SANYAOLU that fuel retailers could only dispense what is available to them at their respective filling stations. He expressed worries that most retail outlets are currently performing below their installed capacity due to product unavailability. He maintained that retail outlets with capacity for 160,000 litres are merely doing between 5,000 and 10,000 due to shortage of petrol.
‘’This is practical business because I cannot dispense what I don’t have in stock. ‘So, with supply being stifled, there is much higher demand than supply. In all of this, the solution lies in NNPC to make adequate provision for petroleum product supply,’’. He added that Petroleum retailers were going out of their way to ensure that they get products to their respective retail outlets because that is critical to the growth of the economy. He said oil retailers are doing right pricing based on landing cost and not profiteering. Harry said a situation whereby retailers land products at their stations at N210 per litre, it was practically impossible to sell such at less than N250 per litre.
He explained that by the time all logistics cost are added, it wouldn’t be out of place to sell at N250 per litre.
“Our own responsibility is to ensure that we get products to our retail outlets to dispense,” he stated.