the present fuel scarcities

DESPITE assurances

from the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
that the current fuel scarcity would not
tarry, the scarcity bit harder yesterday
as consumers of Premium Motor Spirit
(PMS) popularly known as petrol bought
the product at exorbitant rates in parts
of the country amid long queues at the
few dispensing stations that opened for
business.
Expectedly, the development has resulted
in skyrocketing of transportation fares
and prices of foodstuffs.For instance,
petrol sold at varying high prices
between N120 and N150 in Lagos
yesterday. Even where the product went
for the official N87 per litre, our
reporter learnt that a N200 bribe per
vehicle was demanded as extra.
It was also learnt that while most
stations retained the pump price of
N86.50 on their dispensing machines,
the attendants were however, selling far
beyond the amount, deploying
calculators to work out the cost of the
number of litres at a pre-determined
price.
Frustrated motorists recounted similar
experiences in Abuja, Imo, Rivers, Ekiti
and Oyo states where the search for
petrol had become more intense, thus
making the black marketers smile to the
bank.
A visit to a number of filling stations by
our reporters in Lagos captured the
suffocating pains citizens had gone
through.“These queues are there because
the fuel is limited in supply and there
are so many cars parked. You can see
that on this street alone where we have
about four petrol stations, only this one
is selling petrol,” a customer in one of
the petrol stations said.
Another, identified as Tosin Fashoro,
said: “I have been on the queue for
several hours and the petrol station sold
at the normal price of N87 but they still
collected a bribe of N200 per car. We are
really suffering in this country.”
Also, Peter Oguns who spoke to The
Guardian at a petrol station on Ikorodu
Road noted: “We are tired of the
situation as those selling the fuel opened
their fuel pumps and close them as they
liked. They are hoarding the fuel, but
they sell at night and this is very bad.”
An exasperated Chima Eze, a car owner
at Yaba area said: “I have no option but
to resolve to black market. At least I get
fuel even if the price is very high at least
it is without the stress of queuing at
filling stations.”
The Guardian took a step further to talk
to some of the ‘black market’ vendors
who confessed selling 10 litres of the
product at N3,000.
“It is not our fault, we are not the cause
of fuel scarcity, it is the government. We
have to make our money,” one of them
said.