Panic and chaos returned to the streets yesterday in Lagos, Abuja, and some southwestern states as fuel shortage returned to filling stations.

Motorists complained in the early hours of the day and long queues were noticed at major dispensing stations in the metropolis.

Reports say the situation was replicated in some other states of the South-West despite assurances earlier by the national oil company earlier that fuel shortage would not recur as it had maintained adequate supply.

Following the alleged scarcity of petroleum products, only a few stations were seen openly selling the product.

Customers were seen with jerry cans.

In Lagos, the shortage reportedly was first noticed at some filling stations on Monday.

An online news medium, Sahara Reporters, reported that some filling stations, especially independent marketers, did not have the product to sell to motorists and other consumers, while those with commercial stocks increased their prices, ranging between N200 and N250 per litre, depending on location.

Confirming the development, the national operations controller, of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), Mike Osatuyi, attributed the scarcity to unsteady supply in the past few days.

He said that as a result of unsteady supply, depot prices had risen to between N175 and N180 per litre in Lagos and its environs.

Osatuyi said, “We are compelled to sell at higher prices to cover the cost.”

The IPMAN chair was recanting on an earlier position by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and oil marketers that fuel scarcity might not hit Lagos.

But despite the assurance, fuel scarcity still reared its ugly head once again, with devastating effects, amid allegations of panic-buying in the metropolis.

Meanwhile, despite the observed queues in some filling stations in Lagos in the early hours of Monday, which persisted yesterday, IPMAN has insisted that fuel scarcity in the state is not the case.

Osatuyi, who is the National Operations Controller of the association, said IPMAN was following the development, “but there is nothing concrete yet”.

He was quoted as saying, “We noticed it too and believe the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd must have also observed.

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“We expect them to work on it in terms of increasing supply. Let us watch and see what will happen in the next three-four days.”

The controller added that IPMAN was already buying at a higher price, “but we will observe till Wednesday before taking any action.”

Flooding had been attributed as the cause of the new scarcity in some official quarters.

But a few days ago, the NNPC announced that its trucks were finding their way around, trying to meet public demand.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) also intervened in the crisis intervention method, assuring Nigerians of adequate stock as the petrol scarcity bit harder in Lagos.

The authority appealed to Nigerians to avoid panic-buying of petrol as queues mounted at filling stations in Lagos.

Yesterday, queues were sighted at filling stations around Ikeja, Gbagada, Egbeda, Victoria Island, Lekki, Ikoyi, and Ibeju-Lekki axis of Lagos, among others.

Motorists seeking to fuel their tanks were also reportedly seen battling long queues at the Fagba area of Ogba, as well as Badore in Ajah.

Commuters groaned about the petrol scarcity, saying commercial buses hiked fares due to the situation.

An online news medium had earlier reported that queues for petrol had also surfaced in Abuja over the widespread flooding situation in the country.

It quoted the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, yesterday as disclosing that the downstream operators were on top of the situation.

He said the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) had confirmed the level of fuel stock.

He quoted them as saying they had sufficient stock, adding that the situation will return to normalcy by today.

“l spoke with the MOMAN’, executive secretary this morning and he told me they have sufficient stock,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Ahmed as saying.

“I have directed them to start evacuating the product immediately to filling stations. NNPC has also confirmed sufficiency and they have commenced evacuation,” the agency quoted Ahmed as having confirmed.

The CEO added, “From now till tomorrow the situation will be back to normal. I don’t know what is happening but we are on top of the situation.”