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Fuel Queues Resurface in States Amid Supply Shortages

Queues for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol have continued to grow as the country is being thrown into a fresh round of fuel scarcity despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that it has resolved the cause of fuel shortages in the country.

NNPC spokesman Olufemi Soneye had in a statement on Thursday emphasised that the prices of petroleum products were not changing, while also clarifying that the tightness in supply currently being experienced in some parts of the country, was as a result of logistics issues, and that have been resolved.

However, as of Monday newsmen witnessed a surge in the number of vehicle queues at filling stations in parts of Lagos State, with price as high as ₦700 per litre.

The same situation is being reported in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Benue, Sokoto, and other parts of the country, as motorists grapple with the skyrocketing fuel prices.

While prices have surged to about ₦700 per litre and above at filling stations belonging to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigerian (IPMAN), few owned by the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) sell at around ₦610 per litre and above.

NNPCL stations currently sell at ₦568 per litre.

Public Relations Officer of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, in a statement, said, “The situation is that there is no product. Once there is a lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations.”

Despite the scarcity, only a handful of stations along the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, from Oshodi to Tollgate, sold products, thereby attracting longer queues even with prices over ₦700 per litre.

The situation has, in turn, prompted black marketers to peddle the product to desperate motorists at exorbitant rates of up to ₦1000 to ₦1200 per litre.

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