By Adewale Sanyaolu
The ongoing petrol scarcity across the country has intensified as fuel marketers and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) engage in a blame game over the lingering crisis. The worsening situation has left many Nigerians stranded, with long queues at filling stations becoming the norm, further heightening frustrations among motorists and consumers.
While NMDPRA insists that fuel retailers were hoarding the product to sabotage the government and profiteer excessively from hapless consumers, the marketers on the other hand have denied the allegation, saying they were unfounded.
Motorists on their part have lampooned the federal government, saying it has exhausted all excuses.
They also lamented that it was totally insensitive for the government to feign helplessness and watch the masses wallow deeper in poverty, despite the abundant petroleum resources the country possesses.
“There is no excuse we’ve not heard. If it’s not bad road in Benue, it’ll be floods in Lokoja or logistics issues. When will this horror end? Everyday, you spend hours to get petrol to do your business. At times you sleep at the filling station. Look at the man-hour loss”, a logistics truck driver, Emmanuel Ade lamented.”
In Abuja and some parts of the north, petrol sells for N950/1 litre amid long queues.
Responding to allegations of sabotage and fuel hoarding, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Mr. Billy Gilly-Harris, firmly dismissed the claims, stating that it is impossible to hoard a product that is scarcely available.
In a telephone interview with Daily Sun yesterday, Gilly-Harris emphasised that PETROAN members would never engage in hoarding to worsen the plight of Nigerians, especially during such a critical period. He called for collective efforts to address the ongoing fuel crisis.
‘‘For us at PETROAN, we can only dispense what is available to us. One of our cardinal rules in PETROAN is to sell whatever product is available without shortchanging members of the public. When we have products we will dispense in order to ease the pressure. So I am sure PETROAN is not being referred to here.
“Even in Abuja here and other parts of the country, the queues are all over the country. The products are just not available. This is the time for NNPC to up its game. It is very embarrassing that as an oil and gas producing country, we cannot guarantee supply of products for Nigerians,’’.
Gilly-Harris said PETRAON had made proposals to the Federal Government in the past by partnering with them to run one of the refineries through its technical and financial partners.
He said the association has been in discussion with the Federal Government in the last five years over the possibility of a partnership.
He lamented that PETRAON, unlike NNPC, doesn’t have access to the import of petroleum products due to challenges around forex and pricing which has been an obstacle for operators in the downstream sector.
Speaking during an inspection tour in Abuja at the weekend, the Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, Mr. Ogbugo Ukoha, warned filling stations to desist from compounding the fuel supply crisis in Nigeria.
In a video clip shared by the regulator during an inspection at one of TotalEnergies filling stations, Ukoha told the managers of the outlet that “you need to take this (warning) very seriously. If you need security reinforcements, speak to your management.”
He said retail petrol stations should stop encouraging the sale of products to black marketers who dispense the products in jerrycans.
This, according to Ukoha, posed serious safety concerns and should be discontinued.
Also on its X handle, the downstream regulator said it had declared war against the illegal sale of petroleum products.
“NMDPRA embarks on a war against the illegal sale of petroleum products, especially PMS in jerrycans. Filling stations are advised to desist from servicing illegal peddlers; failure to do so would result in the suspension of retail licences,” the agency stated.