Citizens of the Federal Capital Territory and nearby Nasarawa and Niger states suffered another degree of hardship on Wednesday when additional filling stations ran out of Premium Motor Spirit, usually termed fuel.
An extra number of retail outlets went dry in Abuja and the adjacent states, a fact that generated enormous lineups spanning several kilometres at the relatively few stations that had items on Wednesday.
This time around, several filling stations belonging to large marketers ran out of stock, while those managed by independent dealers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited had nothing to offer to consumers on Wednesday. Most of the outlets were closed.
The NNPCL station on Arab Road, Kubwa, which distributed supplies on Tuesday, ran dry on Wednesday and shut its doors. Similarly, numerous filling stations belonging to AYM Shafa, Conoil, AA Rano, Total, etc, situated in the FCT, Nasarawa and Niger states did not distribute fuel.
The single NNPCL station that sold petrol at the Gwarimpa end of the Zuba-Kubwa Expressway on Wednesday, had the longest waits ever observed by this reporter since Nigeria’s fuel shortage issue began.
The lineups extended from the motorway onto multiple adjourning streets that were close to, and kilometres distant from the road. Owners of automobiles in the lineups abandoned their cars under the heat and sought refuge behind trees, while they waited patiently to purchase gas.
The motorists questioned when Abuja would be free from what was now turning into a never-ending gasoline crisis issue in the country’s capital city. The lineups have continued to form and dissipate practically every month for roughly two years straight.
“Instead of abating, the misery in Nigeria has continued to rise and expand. It is really bad that there is a government and those running it are content with what the people they rule are going through,” a motorist, Abdul Gana, observed.
Another driver, Philip Sunday, added, “You can see how the government has continued to disappoint Nigerians. So only because of the elections of February 25, 2023, we should all suffer? Why should a government present it as the basis for the misery we are enduring now?”
The Federal Government’s NNPCL had announced on Sunday that the appearance of queues in Abuja and some parts of the country “is largely due to restrictions in businesses and movement, to allow for the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections and enable Nigerians to exercise their civic right.”
The NNPCL also declared that it had 2.1 billion litres of PMS, saying that it had enough product to keep the nation moist for 47 days, notwithstanding the acute shortage in the afflicted areas.
“Latest updates issued on Saturday indicate a total of 2.1 billion litres of PMS stock, including 0.9 billion litres in all the land depots nationally and 1.2 billion litres on marine vessels, which is equal to 35 days sufficiency as of March 4, 2023.
“We expect to complete the month of March 2023 with roughly 2.8 billion litres, which is equal to 47 days of sufficiency,” the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPCL, Garba-Deen Muhammad, had indicated in a statement published in Abuja.
But a source exclusively learned on Wednesday that the paucity of PMS in Abuja and other Northern states might remain until beyond Saturday’s gubernatorial elections in several states, according to oil merchants.
The National Vice President, of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, claimed in the report that the shortage of fuel in the Northern portion of the nation and certain other states will linger into next week.
“Most people feared that there would be a crisis, so they stopped their trucks from going to lift things, but since there is no crisis so far, by next week, gasoline should be available,” he added.
Maigandi continued, “It will obvious after the gubernatorial elections in states on Saturday because when we have elections every time in Nigeria people would acquire dread. So there is the difficulty.
“When we advise our truck drivers to travel to Lagos to lift merchandise, they reject because they are terrified for their lives. So we expect that by next week everything will clear, because, after the elections, things should return to normal since there are enough products on ground”
