Fuel Scarcity Intensifies, As Long Queues Resurface In Lagos

By Akinwale Kasali

Lagosians are groaning and lamenting the scarcity of fuel that has seen long queues at Filling Stations around the State. Motorists in some area in the State wait endlessly with the product not in sight.

The situation is worse in areas like Alimosho, Maryland, Lagos Island, Ikeja and its environs.

The cost of the product has skyrocketed as it is being sold between N200 and N250 in some parts of the State, with motorists and consumers jostling to purchase the product not minding the price.

Commuters are lamenting as the cost of fares has increased drastically, and having a toll on commuters.

However, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has blamed the scarcity on depots and the increasing difficulty in accessing petroleum products, stressing that its members are unable to get sufficient products to go round.

In a chat with The Punch Newspaper, the National Controller, Operations, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, stated that all members of the association could not get sufficient products at the depots.

“No fuel. Even when we were able to get small quantity, DAPPMAN sold it to us at N200/N202 per litre. By the time we transport it to our stations, the cost would be around N210/litre,” he said.

He added that getting petrol to members’ filling stations from the depots now cost as much as N200 per litre in some instances.

Also, DAPPMAN’s Chairman, Dame Williams Akpani, stated that the fuel crises persisted due to logistics challenges.

She said bad roads, resulting in petrol trucks taking one week instead of three days to arrive in Abuja from Lagos, was also responsible.

Akpani added that the bad Abuja road network had led to breakdown of petroleum trucks, which according to her, had resulted in apathy on the part of the drivers in taking products to the Federal Capital.