- Yesterday, lines at gas stations in Lagos, Abuja, and other cities across the nation grew longer due to claims made by marketers that the depots are currently running low on supplies.
- Petrol marketers told Vanguard that NNPC Limited, which has returned as the sole importer of the product, was rationing supply to depots.
- The Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, who confirmed the development, told Vanguard in a telephone interview that most independent stations were unable to secure products from the depots.
- Ukadike noted that with NNPC Retails as the sole importer of petrol into the country, marketers across the country were relying on the government owned oil company for supplies.
- He stated: “The issue we have is that most of the private depots have gone out of stock because they argument supply from NNPC Limited. Since NNPC is the sole importer, these private depots that independents buy products from also depend on the NNPC for their supplies. This arrangement is also encouraging profiteering.
- “We have been finding it very difficult to pick products from NNPC in the past five days and that is why you are seeing the skeletal scarcity. It is not major yet. The important point here is that despite the deregulation, NNPC is still the sole importer of PMS and no other depot is importing.
- “Some of the portals owned by NNPC have shutdown and are no longer issuing authority to lift to marketers in some of their portals. This significantly shows that there is a gap in the chain of supply. But I was reassured by the MD of NNPC that they are expecting products and they will feed us very soon”.
- A statement by NNPC Retails read: “NNPC Retail Ltd notes the appearance of fuel queues in some parts of Lagos and a few other locations around the country. This is due to reduced Depot loadout in Apapa, Lagos over a few days, and the root cause has since been addressed”.
Source:
vanguard