Economic and social activities in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, and its environs are gradually being paralysed, following scarcity of petrol in many filling stations.
A visit to several filling stations in the area on Thursday, reports that vehicle owners, especially commercial vehicle drivers, spent several hours at filling stations waiting to buy fuel.
In some filling stations where the product is available, there are long queues of vehicles and motorcycles.
Consequently, there are fewer vehicles on the roads.
Many commuters, including school children and students in tertiary institutions, were seen at various bus stops and other locations waiting endlessly for vehicles.
Many commuters resorted to trekking to their destinations as effects of petrol scarcity heightened.
An independent petroleum marketer in Ilorin, Alhaji Abdul-Kareem Sanni, described the lingering fuel scarcity as unfortunate.
He attributed the situation to unavailability of the commodity at NNPC depot at Oke Oyi in llorin.
Sanni called for deregulation of the sub- sector to make fuel available at all times.
The petroleum dealer described as economic waste the payment of N413 billion petrol subsidy to marketers when the fuel was not readily available.
Efforts to speak with the Operation Controller at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Kwara, Mr Philips Salvation, proved futile.
The Federal Government has approved the immediate payment of N413 billion to oil marketers to serve as the outstanding payment for subsidy claims.
This is contained in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, Ohi Alegbe.
NNPC said that it had stepped up measures to eliminate the noticeable fuel queues in some petrol stations across some major cities in the country.
