By Olusegun Olanrewaju, Babs Oyetoro, Cajetan Mmuta, Israel Joel, Mudiaga Affe, David Onimisi
Controversy has continued to greet the fuel price regime in the country, following claims of re-adjusted rate after it was reportedly revved up to N212.61 last Friday by the Petroleum Products Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
This is as many Nigerians grumbled that the authorities were compounding their woes with frequent price hikes, even as the government attributed the long fuel queues to ‘panic-buying’.
But checks over the weekend showed that contrary to reports, a litre of petrol sold at lower rate than the touted new price, at the many of the filling stations across the country. The situation was dicey in Lagos where it was found out that many petrol stations sold the product for between N162 and N169, just as some others shut their premises.
At the officially-regulated Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) filing station on Alfred Rewane Road in Ikoyi, the pump price indicated N162 on Saturday.
But a motorist told our reporters that he bought a litre at N165 while a supervisor, who gave his name as Ibrahim, maintained that they were now selling petrol at N162. ‘’
That is the price we are selling here,’’ the supervisor said. The pump price at other stations like AP in Falomo, Ikoyi and Total at Shura also officially stood at N162. At Pinnacle Oil petrol station at Marwa Roundabout and Rainoil in Lekki Phase 1; the price was N165.
Petrocam on the Lekki-Epe Expressway sold the product for N168, while Enyo dispensed at N169. There were no long queues as of Saturday morning at the Forte Oil on Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie Road, as well as AP and Mobil at Moloney Street in Obalende. However, there was a long queue of customers’ carrying ‘jerry cans’ at one of the high-profile stations in Lekki, suggesting that some ‘fast business’ was at the side
lines.
Report from states
Reports from the states indicated that dealers in petroleum products had adjusted the pump prices of fuel to the normal after the initial hike, for undisclosed reasons.
In parts of Awka, the Anambra State capital, dealers had relapsed the pump price to N175 per litre after the sudden hike to N212 on Friday morning following the confusion over the price. As of Saturday afternoon, many petrol stations sold the product at different prices and at exorbitant rates even as black market operators reportedly experienced a boom.
The latter sold the litre of the petrol for between N250 and N300, depending on the time and location of sales. A commercial bus driver, Ugochukwu Amaonwu, said he “bought N215 per litre of petrol in the early hours of Friday and was able to get some quantity of it at N500 for two litres from the black market’’.
But as of Saturday, findings by ThisNigeria showed that many of the filling stations had adjusted their meters to reflect between N175 and N180 per litre as against N162 being sold by Total and Mega Filling station of the NNPC in the state.
The Mobil petrol station at the temporary site of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University along the Awka-Enugu Expressway sold at N180, while MRS and Jezco stations at Amaobia express road junction dispensed the product at N175 per litre respectively.
However, the Total filling station on Zik Avenue and NNPC Mega station on the Awka-Enugu Expressway sold at N162, even as there were long queues at both stations by motorists and motorbike operators.
Hundreds of motorists were barred from entering into the NNPC station to buy the product as it was gathered that the station had little quantity of petrol as of the time of this report. A petrol attendant of the NNPC Mega station, who gave his name as Cyprian, said, “We don’t have enough. Petrol is about to finish, and it can’t go round to everybody now.”
Meanwhile, motorists and residents of Awka have expressed condemnations over the sudden increase in the pump price of petrol. They described the development as outrageous, noting that it would worsen the plight of the masses in the face of the present biting economic realities.
Transport fares were high despite the observed reversal to old price of N175 per litre with about 50 per cent increase for short distance locations within Awka. Long queues and escalating transport fares resurfaced in various parts of Edo State following the announcement of increase in the pump price of fuel.
In Benin City, the state capital, while major marketing outlets maintained the old price regime of N162.50 per litre as directed by the NNPC, independent marketing stations jerked up their metres to N200 and above. Checks revealed that the long queues in filling stations managed by major marketers were a result of the restricted use of pumps in the stations.
The fuel queue at the NNPC outlet along Benin-Sapele Road close to the state secretariat stretched almost one kilometre away from the station, thereby causing gridlock along the route.
A motorist, Stanley Makelemi, said he had been on the queue for over two hours as of 1.30pm when our correspondent interacted with him on Saturday.
Makelemi blamed the Federal Government for making Nigerians go through hard times in a period that the country was faced with economic and security challenges. “
This is the most inhuman treatment we are getting from our government at this time. It shows that the welfare of the people is not important to the government,” he said. Transport fares from Urhiri to Ring Road which used to be N100 increased to N200, while the fare from Akpakpava to Ramat Park rose from N100 to N150 or N200 in some cases.
The situation was not different at Auchi, Ekpoma, and other towns in the central and northern senatorial districts of the state as motorists were made to bear the long queues before they could get the product at the regulated price of N162.50 per litre at major petroleum outlets. A few independent marketing outlets that sold fuel along Airport Road in Benin City had adjusted their metres to as high as N212 per litre.
Transport fares went up slightly on routes within Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Friday and remained so even on Saturday after news came that the hyped increase in fuel price was not authorized.
Taxi and bus trips on local routes like Park to Waterlines, Park to Lagos and Oil Mill to Artillery that used to be N50 rose to N100, while N100 routes like Park to Slaughter, Odili to Akpajo, Iwofe to Mile One went for N150. There was also slight scarcity of fuel at filling stations. Fuel queues were noticed in a few filling stations like NNPC mega stations. However, the pump prices at the filling stations remained at between N162 per litre.
In Jos, Plateau State, many filling stations visited by one of our correspondents on Friday were not dispensing fuel.
The stations include NNPC mega station along Yakubu Gowon road; Mobil; Total; Conoil, and AP.m Only two fuel stations along the Bukuru-Jos Expressway, opened their premises with many persons and motorists struggling to get the commodity.m At Oloba filling station opposite Coca Cola depot in Jos, a motorist, Nansel Paul, said he stayed on queue for almost two hours before he could buy the product. He lamented the situation and called on the government to resolve whatever might have led to the scarcity of the commodity.
In Nasarawa State, on the Keffi/Abuja Express way on Saturday, a few petrol stations dispensed the product for between N163 and N165 respectively. At the NNPC retail outlet situated at Mararaba, Nasarawa State, the station had to wait for more days as the three trucks it paid for were still waiting for loading.
At A. Y Shafa retail on Keffi Road, a majority of motorists, who sought to buy the product, left the place disappointed as the station exhausted its stock
“Many of us could not get anything to take us home, so how do we come out tomorrow. Whether it is true or not, I make bold to say that the Federal Government should endeavour to make life worth living in the country”, a motorist, who craved anonymity said.
Long queues appeared in Abuja for the purchase of petrol, a few days after normalcy returned to the area.
Long queues returned to retail outlets in Wuse, Gwarimpa, Wuye and Kubwa Express way on Friday, while others shut their premises.
Marketers warn against hoarding of petrol, assure adequate supply
Meanwhile, the National Public Relations, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu, advised the public to stop panic buying, saying there was enough stock and the price had not changed. Yakubu urged the people to ignore the rumours making the round and advised their marketers to continue selling at the official price.
However, a taxi driver, Effiong John, said that he had been at the petrol station since 11am and urged the government to bring sanity to the oil sector. Another private car owner, Mrs Uloma Emeka, said that there was fuel but did not know the reason for the queue.
