Petrol scarcity: Long queues, dry pumps remain despite FG’s assurances 

• IPMAN: We are successful the acheronian astir logistics challenges
• Fares surge 77% successful 15 months implicit petrol hike – SBM
• Shettima craves Nigerians’ patience, understanding 
From Waliat Musa (Lagos) and Terhemba Daka (Abuja)

A week aft the Federal Government assured that the ongoing petrol scarcity volition ease, galore filling stations crossed Lagos and different cities remained unopen yesterday with fewer outlets operated by large marketers opened to motorists.

Long queues were seen astatine stations operated by Conoil, TotalEnergies and NNPC Retail with astir each the stations operated by autarkic marketers shut. A fewer of the stations managed by the autarkic marketers were dispensing astatine betwixt N850 and N1,000 per litre compared to N680 per litre sold astatine stations operated by large marketers.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited had past Friday, assured consumers that the bottlenecks that led to the petrol proviso disruptions person been resolved.

Speaking connected wherefore filling stations operated by large lipid marketers proceed to dispense contempt the disruptions, the CEO, Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Clement Isong, said collaborations among its members, including merchandise swaps, person kept their stations wet.

He said: “The vantage we person is that we stock logistics successful Apapa, which is an fantabulous level to enactment with. They telephone it the Apapa hub. All our members person depot facilities successful Apapa and truthful logically, implicit time, we learned to enactment unneurotic for the ratio of the Apapa hub.

“So, erstwhile we person scarcity similar this, we bash what we telephone merchandise swaps. So, if I tally adust successful my depot, I tin spell and instrumentality from different MEMAN institution depot and aboriginal erstwhile I person products, I tin springiness him backmost the merchandise that I took from him.

“The vantage of this is that we each tin absorption connected keeping our stations wet. We person the cardinal stations successful each the cardinal cities successful each municipality areas successful Nigeria. If we tin support our 3,000 stations wet, we deliberation that with an businesslike strategy of transportation, the queues volition abate earlier the weekend”, helium added.

MEMAN said by moving astir 24 hours daily, astir 700 trucks were sent retired yesterday to stations crossed the country, assuring that the queues volition easiness successful the coming days.

However, autarkic marketers person said they bash not person details of the logistic challenges NNPCL claimed are liable for the existent debased proviso of products nationwide.

Fresh petrol scarcity resurfaced past week and has worsened, leaving Nigerians to grapple with the effects of the development. The scarcity has since driven up prices successful Lagos to arsenic precocious arsenic N800 per litre successful immoderate filling stations belonging to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and arsenic precocious arsenic N1,200 per litre astatine the achromatic market.

But a week later, lipid marketers person said they are successful the acheronian astir the quality of those challenges. They besides dismissed claims that they were hoarding the products.

“Do you blasted lipid marketers for the existent situation? If NNPCL gives america products, we volition merchantability them due to the fact that we are businessmen. We are successful this concern to marque money, truthful we won’t support products successful our tanks if we have,” the Chairman of IPMAN Satellite Depot, Lagos, Akin Akinrinade said.

“They said they person a logistics occupation and person 240 cardinal litres successful store to distribute. But that was what they told america since past weekend. They said the logistics challenges person been resolved but they didn’t archer america the benignant of logistics occupation they have.

“For now, NNPCL stations are mostly the ones selling with conscionable a fewer others getting supply. But you cognize our members person the largest fig of stations nationwide. If they springiness IPMAN stations products, you volition spot that the queues volition vanish immediately.”

Chinedu Ukadike, the Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, had connected Sunday, said the prevailing scarcity of petrol could persist for an further 2 weeks. Ukadike told journalists that the merchandise was not disposable successful the country, due to the fact that astir refineries successful Europe were undergoing turnaround maintenance.

“NNPC has assured america that determination volition beryllium betterment successful the proviso concatenation due to the fact that their vessels are arriving. Once that is done, normalcy volition return. This is due to the fact that erstwhile the 30-day proviso sufficiency is disrupted, it takes 2 to 3 months to reconstruct it”, helium said.

As the hardship continues, SB Morgen (SBM) Intelligence, a geopolitical probe firm, has said transport costs surged by 77 per cent betwixt January 2023 and March 2024. In its latest study titled ‘The terms of everything,’ SBM said a spike successful petrol prices, which roseate 160.9 per cent implicit the reporting period, accrued transport costs for commuters crossed Nigeria.

“The information illuminates a stark reality: transport costs surged by a staggering 77 per cent during the aforesaid timeframe,” the probe steadfast said.

“This surge tin beryllium straight linked to the accrued operational expenses incurred by proscription providers, who indispensable grapple with the amplified outgo of substance arsenic a superior input.”

Furthermore, SBM said the inflationary spiral affected the regular sustenance of Nigerians. “For example, the terms of bread, a dietary staple for many, witnessed a notable uptick of 81 per cent implicit the reporting period,” the probe steadfast said.

SBM attributed the surge to respective factors, with the astir important being the persistent devaluation of the naira, which erodes purchasing powerfulness and amplifies import costs for indispensable commodities similar wheat — a captious constituent successful breadstuff production.

However, SBM said challenges “confronting Nigeria’s system widen beyond currency uncertainty. Insecurity, characterised by sporadic outbreaks of unit and unrest, compounds the nation’s economical woes, disrupting proviso chains, impeding proscription networks, and engendering a clime of uncertainty that exacerbates inflationary pressures,” SBM said.

However, Vice President Kashim Shettima has again implored Nigerians to beryllium diligent with President Bola Tinubu’s medication arsenic helium steers the vessel of authorities done the economical turbulence and tempest helium met connected the crushed erstwhile helium assumed office.

Shettima’s entreaty came hardly 24 hours aft President Tinubu sought the knowing and patience of the Organised Labour portion implementing his administration’s policies and programmes.

Shettima made the plea, Thursday, during the 2nd Chronicle Roundtable organised by 21st Century Media Services, publishers of 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE, arsenic portion of its nationalist work enlightenment bid held successful Abuja.

The Vice President explained immoderate cardinal argumentation decisions taken by the Tinubu medication arsenic good arsenic its Economic and Social Agenda, including the removal of subsidy connected petroleum products, which helium described arsenic the ‘biggest elephant successful the room’ earlier President Tinubu took charge.

Appealing for patience and clip to code the superior challenges helium said they met connected the ground, particularly the nation’s ailing system which was already tottering towards an eclipse, Shettima said: “We look guardant to the affirmative interaction connected the system that volition beryllium brought by immoderate of our caller initiatives successful the lipid and state sector, originative arts sector, the recently re-jigged alloy and coagulated minerals sectors, our lodging sector, the bluish economy, and the integer sectors, to notation but a few.

“There is nary uncertainty that there’s a clip to works and a clip to reap. In betwixt those times, we entreaty for patience and question corporate sacrifice from all, particularly from us. We privation determination were a mode to dainty this ailment without surgery”.

In his code titled, “Because These Shortcuts Are Not The Right Ways,” Shettima noted that though the determination to region substance subsidy was rather pugnacious considering its antagonistic interaction connected the lives of the citizens, it became an inevitable enactment erstwhile it was discovered that the contiguous past medication of erstwhile President Muhammadu Buhari did not marque proviso for it successful the 2023 budget.

He explained: “President Tinubu chose the enactment that would prevention the beingness of the nation, alternatively of 1 that would simply prolong its imminent and predicted economical death. Before we took charge, the biggest elephant successful the country was the question of substance subsidy removal.

“We understood wherefore our predecessor made the determination to region it and refused to fund for it successful their last fiscal year. The twelvemonth earlier we took office, Nigeria’s indebtedness service-to-revenue ratio had grown to 111.8 per cent. The anticipated indebtedness situation whitethorn dependable similar fancy economical jargon to the antheral connected the street, but you and I are successful a amended presumption to recognize however specified miscalculations person played retired successful different countries. It’s an economical decease sentence.

“In plain terms, our indebtedness servicing was specified that if you earned N100,000, the entirety of the wealth wasn’t lone paid to your debtor; you were forced to get an further N11,800 to wage the debtor. How bash you mean to past this, and however galore much loans earlier you go a pariah?

“We are not adjacent discussing the nation’s fund deficits, diversions of resources from captious sectors of the economy, and corruption masterminded successful the subsidy regime.”

Acknowledging that authorities is simply a continuum, the Vice President said whoever had “succeeded the erstwhile authorities would person either chosen to steer the vessel done the tempest arsenic President Tinubu is doing oregon jumped vessel and fto the state implode.”