28 February 2014, Lagos – There is indication that fuel scarcity may last for at least one month, according to major oil marketers.
Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN),Mr Obafemi Olawore, said yesterday in Lagos, now that the Federal Government, through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), released first quarter allocation of fuel to petroleum marketers, the marketers will commence the importation of the product.
He assured that fuel would reach everywhere in the next one month when importers would have brought in the product from outside the shores of the country.
The non-release of the fuel allocation for the first quarter of the year as well as the non-payment of N120 billion to importers of the product under the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) affected marketers last month, he said.
The release of the product allocation to these marketers is expected to buoy supply of fuel which has been scarce in the last few days.
But Olawore did not disclose whether or not the debt owed his were paid by the government.
Meanwhile, fuel supply in most parts of Lagos yesterday showed impressive improvement against last week when there were queues in the outlets.
Our correspondent, who visited Apapa depots yesterday also witnessed improved loading of products as truck divers were full of life with the gradual resumption of work there.
South-West Chairman of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Comrade Tokunbo Korodo confirmed to our correspondent that loading of product has improved in most depots located in Lagos and its environs.
According to him, about 50 trucks loaded products yesterday at each of the depot compared to last week when few loaded because of scarcity of fuel.
He said that given the first quarter allocation of product would boost morale of marketers and guarantee steady supply.
Meanwhile, residents of the Federal Capital Territory and environs have accused oil marketers of hoarding petroleum products which they attributed to the long queues at filling stations since Monday.
Some motorists who spoke to our reporter called on the relevant government agencies to step up enforcement by dealing with marketers’ responsible for the hardship they said they have been unduly forced to go through in the last four days.
The queues remained dominant in most filling stations yesterday. Long queues were seen at MRS stations at Umaru Musa Yar’adua Expressway, airport road, as well as the one located in Gwarinpa Housing Estate.
When contacted on what the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is doing to curtail hoarding and profiteering by some marketers this period, its spokesman, Mohammed Bulama Saidu, did not answer his call.
Major oil marketers will meet today in Abuja to deliberate on the way out of the scarcity impasse.
– Daily Trust