Fuel scarcity bites harder in Lagos, Ogun as queues returns

Fuel scarcity bites harder in
Lagos, Ogun as queues returns

-Only few petrol stations now sell the
product in Lagos and Ogun states
-While petrol is sold for N86 per litre at
available stations in Lagos, in Ogun state,
the standard price is N150 per litre
– fuel hawkers in Lagos sell between N200-
N300 per litre
Nigerians queuing to get fuel at a filling
station
In what could be described as April fool, the
briefly disappeared petrol queues in Lagos
and Ogun are back with full force
Recall that minister of state for petroleum
resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had said petrol
queues would clear in Abuja and Lagos by



April 6 or 7, adding that the scarcity would
subside in other parts of the country,
including Kano, Katsina, Port Harcourt and
Warri, by that weekend.
Check by our reporter revealed that only few
petrol stations now sell the product in Lagos
and Ogun.
While petrol is sold for N86 per litre at
available stations in Lagos, in Ogun state,
the standard price is N150 per litre.
Getting black market is also becoming
difficult following the clampdown on fuel
hawkers by the Lagos state Rapid Response
Quad. But those who bought from the
hawkers say they got it between N200- N300
per litre.
The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Petroleum
and Natural Gas Workers, Lagos Zone, Alhaji
Tokunbo Korodo, said: “We are still having the
fuel problem because there is no supply. Even
with the little we are rationing, if you look at
the queues very well, they have returned to
what they used to be. And it is a very
devastating situation now.
“Most of the depots are not loading well. Even
the products they promised that they will soon
pump to the depots is not in sight now. I have
not seen any seriousness on the part of the
other stakeholders to complement the effort of
the NNPC. The NNPC is supplying, but it
cannot do it alone. Now, it is only the NNPC
that is bringing the fuel into the country.”
An independent marketer who was quoted by
Punch newspaper said: “The queues will
remain like that until we have good supply.
And that good supply may not come until May.
I expect that by first week of May, something
positive should happen.
“People are still finding it difficult to get
foreign exchange. All the ones that the
government promised have not been released
to anybody.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian senate and its
President, Bukola Saraki has come under
heavy attack from Nigeria Labour Congress
(NLC), Femi Falana (SAN), Transition
Monitoring Group (TMG) over its plan to
amend the Senate of the Act establishing
the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the
Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).