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By Adewale Sanyaolu
Despite assurances from relevant government agencies including the Directorate of State Security (DSS)working in collaboration with industry stakeholders to ease fuel queues, findings by Daily Sun across the Lagos metropolis has revealed that the situation is yet to abate.
The queues across filling stations have compounded the traffic situation as long stretch of vehicles have become a permanent feature most major roads in Lagos.
At the Total filling station on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja, vehicular queues occupied the entire stretch of road, leaving a single lane for other road users.
The same situation was observed at the Mobil filling station on Awolowo Way Ikeja, which stretched almost to Allen Round About with the NNPC filling station at Ashade Market intersection in Agege facing same fate.
At the Mobil filling station by Oba Ogunji junction, long stretch of vehicles left a single lane for motorists coming from Akilo inward Ogba.
The traffic condition has been further aggravated by the fragmented pricing regime in the downstream sector which has put pressure on the filling stations operated by major marketers.
Daily Sun had last week exclusively reported that most major marketers were now under pressure being the only set of marketers selling petrol at the official pump price of N170 per litre.
Some of the marketers at the Apapa Depot who spoke to Daily Sun in separate interviews called on government to step up the volume of products imported into the country.
They lamented that the level of imports was not in anyway commensurate with demand, leaving a huge supply gap in petroleum products market. Mr Mike Osatuyi, the Operations Controller of lPMAN, alleged that NNPCL had stopped importing enough petrol to meet demand in the country.
Osatuyi was emphatic that marketers could no longer sell at the regulated price because the unsteady supply of petrol had resulted in higher prices at depots.
“We are experiencing scarcity because the product is not available.
“The price of a litre of petrol at private depots is currently between N205 and N210 as against N162.50.
“The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd., is the sole importer of refined petroleum products, which are not readily available to marketers,” he said.
The oil marketers and petroleum depot operators, have, however, called for quick intervention by the Federal Government.
The Chairperson of DAPPMAN, Mrs Winifred Akpani, urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to comply with the Federal Government’s directive to end payment of port charges in dollars for petroleum products brought into the country.
Akpani maintained that accessing forex through the CBN window would enhance their capacity, facilitate seamless supply of petrol, and birth a regime of sustainability in terms of storage, distribution and supply across the nation.
Stakeholders have also flayed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for not protecting consumers of petrol from greedy marketers.
They blamed NMDPRA, which they said had continued to look away, leaving consumers to their fate.
“When the authority was operating as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), it monitored and ensured that retail outlets that hoarded fuel were penalised and forced to sell.
“Likewise retail outlets that sold above the regulated price were penalised,” said a source who declined to be mentioned.
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