Abuja motorists sleep at filling stations as petrol scarcity worsens

•Black market hits N450/litre 

From Uche Usim, Abuja 

Despite repeated assurances from the Federal Government of improved supplies, motorists in Abuja have resumed their night vigils at filling stations over worsening petrol scarcity .

While the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) claim they have improved distribution of petroleum products across the country, the reverse seems to be the case in Abuja with most oil marketers without petrol. Only a few stations dispensed petrol on Thursday, a situation that led to hellish queues that snaked for several meters.

Anthony Omoh, a taxi driver, lamented: “Since last week, I’ve been sleeping in filling stations. My family saw me last only on Sunday last week. I close from the day’s work and head straight to a filling station where a tanker is likely to discharge product. If not, you would not have fuel to operate. Black market is now N450/litre”, he lamented.

Mrs Adanna Ugwu, a civil servant, said she has been buying petrol from black marketers since the current scarcity.

“Two days ago, I took permission from my boss that I was going to the clinic but I went petrol hunting instead. After four in the queue, I was told the product had finished and I had to buy black market to go to work. All the promises from agencies are lies. We’re suffering. An oil producing country without petrol. It’s scandalous”, she said

NNPCL in a recent statement attributed the scarcity and vehicular queues “to restrictions in businesses and movement, to allow for the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections and enable Nigerians to exercise their civic right. 

“However, operations have now resumed at the depots and trucks are being dispatched to various parts of the country.

We expect normalcy to be restored in the next few days.

“NNPC Limited and all its partners and stakeholders will continue to work together to ensure seamless distribution of petroleum products around the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections” the company said in a statement.