Independent oil marketers have said the current crisis rocking the petroleum sector is far from over.
Many Nigerians who spent hours in queue to buy fuel in 2022 crossed into the New Year with the same challenge.
In Lagos, many residents resumed the New Year holidays in filling stations.
Our correspondent who monitored the fuel situation in the state reports that the few independent stations selling were dispensing at N250 and N270.
Checks from Ikeja axis and its environs on Lagos Mainland indicated that many filling stations were not dispensing.
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Our correspondent observed that only two filling stations were dispensing on the stretch of Ojodu Berger down to Ikeja along Awolowo Road with unusually long queues.
Also, an Ardova Filling station at Lagos Airport Road was selling amidst long queues of motorists scrambling to buy.
“I had to buy N250 per litre at a filling station at Oba Akran just to be able to sustain my car. I wanted to buy at Berger but the only NNPP retail station dispensing was too crowded and I can’t stand it,” said a resident of Lagos who identified himself simply as Mr. Bankole.
Daily Trust reports that since November, the fuel crisis has lingered in Lagos with residents scrambling for fuel across the state while the Independent marketers have tried to fill the gap by selling far above the recommended price.
The Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had approved ex- depot price of N148 per litre but findings indicated that marketers had discarded the price and now selling far above it.
In a chat with Daily Trust, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), Comrade Akinrinade Akinade, said the only solution to the crisis is for the NNPC to sell directly to them at the regulated price, saying they are currently at the mercy of private depots.
“As soon as NNPC decides to sell to our members directly at Retail Price, that’s the time we will have the relief we are all looking for. All this idea of sealing depots is just cosmetic.”
“If they sell to us directly at regulated price and we are able to sell at the recommended pump price, all these private depots would have no choice other than to bring down their price. It’s because NNPC is not selling directly to our members and we are the ones patronising them (private depots). We have had meeting with them (NNPC) and they agreed they would give product directly to us.
“They stated it in December, nothing came and January we are not seeing anything. As soon as they start to sell directly to us, you would see how the price would crash and all this game being played by private depot owners would cease and everything would come back to normal. And also most of these major marketers don’t even have to dispense. If the fuel is there, they would give to us but at the moment, they are not selling too.”
According to him, sealing depots would not end the crisis.
Akinade further said that his members are not buying at the rate recently approved by the NMDPRA.
“We’ve not bought at that rate. The only way we can buy at that rate is if they sell to us directly. We still buy from private depots,” he added.
