Commuters have been left to face the harsh realities heralded by the latest fuel scarcity which has hit different part of the country.
According to The PUNCH, motorists now spend hours at filing stations in many parts of the country in their bid to get the product.
It was gathered that black marketers sell the product around 300-400 per litre to motorist who are left with no other alternative.
In Lagos, amid huge lines and long waits, some filling stations offered a litre of Premium Motor Spirit for N200, as opposed to the regulated price of N180-N185/litre.
According to a Twitter user from Abuja, identified as @citrusoliver, he claimed that Abuja has been experiencing fuel scarcity over the last two weeks.
“Abuja is the most corrupt place on earth with this practice.. we have fuel scarcity for more than 2weeks now. Crazy situation here oo..” he tweeted.
Another commenter, @Awesome_7 replied, “Even the Fuel attendants are the annoying one, they start collecting unnecessary additional charge for buying with keg”
A Twitter user from Lagos, @Onihtayo tweeted,” Some open filling station today are selling at the rate of 185/190″
While @AgboolaSteven from Akure tweeted, “It’s quite terrible here in Akure. This guys just decided to shut down. Now to get fuel is an hassle. Those selling are selling at ridiculous price. And to make matters worse those selling are the ones with terrible pumps.”
In Katsina State, the only people who sold fuel to cars and other customers were proprietors of illicit fuel depots known as “Bubulutu.”
The few remaining filling stations, particularly in the state capital, only supplied the product for a few hours before informing motorists that it was no longer available.
A lecturer at a University in Katsina said, “What I do these days before coming to Katsina is to fill up my car either in Kano or in Gusau and also buy an extra 25 litres to take care of my movements while here. I believe the fuel scarcity is more or less artificial, instead of all these flooding reasons being given as excuses.”
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority meanwhile urged Nigerians not to buy gasoline in a hurry because there was enough on hand.
The Chief Executive Officer, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed in Lagos on Tuesday, said he had checked with MOMAN and the NNPC Ltd. on the level of fuel stock and confirmed that they had sufficient stock.
“l spoke with the MOMAN’S Executive Secretary this morning and he told me they have sufficient stock. I have directed them to start evacuating the product immediately to filling stations.
“NNPC has also confirmed sufficiency and they have commenced evacuation. 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,” he said.
Ahmed assured that there was enough fuel and appealed to members of the public to avoid panic buying as all efforts were being made to resolve shortages in some filling stations in Lagos and its environs.
