By Bolarinwa Kabir
Fuel scarcity is now surfacing in Lagos and other parts of the country as private depot owners increased the ex-depot price of petrol from N630 to N720 per litre.
In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, there is now fuel scarcity and some filling stations who have it are dispensing PMS as high as N900/litre.
Honourable FM learnt that a number of filling stations in Lagos, Ogun and some states have run out of stock as they refused to buy high-priced fuel from the private depots.
Speaking in an interview with reporters on Sunday, Hammed Fashola, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria stated that many filling stations did not open for business because they had no fuel in their tanks.
He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which is the sole importer of petrol at the moment, should explain to Nigerians what was happening with the product.
“Those that shut their stations do not have fuel to sell. When you don’t have fuel, you cannot open your station. That is the problem. You know the NNPC is the sole importer of this product. I think it is in the best position to tell us what is actually going on.
“Currently, independent marketers cannot buy what the private depots are selling. They are selling fuel between N715 and N720 per litre. How much will marketers sell the product? Look at the cost of bringing it to their depots; with transportation and other depot expenses, it will be too costly for them. That is why the stations are shut down. Some marketers refuse to go and buy because they know the masses cannot afford high-priced petrol in this economy. That is the situation for now,” the IPMAN leader concluded.