Some stranded motorists and commuters have expressed concern over frequent fuel scarcity in Lagos metropolis, resulting in few commercial vehicles, which led to hike in fares.
Some of the motorists who spoke on Monday in Lagos condemned marketers for the inability to make products available.
In Lagos metropolis, only a few filling stations are selling, with long queues in most parts.
The motorists said that the development has further compounded their woes.
This was also the same situation within Abule -Egba and environs, Abbatoir Road in Agege, Akowonjo Road, Bariga, Fola- Agoro and the popular Lasu-Igando Road.
The few filling stations that dispensed petrol had long queues of vehicles stretching some meters.
The drivers had little or no hope of buying petrol.
Some of the usually busy roads were strangely deserted as commercial vehicles increased fares by 100 per cent.
Across the metropolis on Monday, petrol queues were seen at filling stations like Mobil, NIPCO, TotalEnergies, Forte Oil and ConOil along Ikorodu Road.
North West at Maryland, Gbagada, NIPCO along Ijede road, Ikorodu, and TotalEnergies at the NNPC bus stop in Ejigbo, stretched to about 500 metres from the pumps.
Some motorists and other residents who lamented the situation said they had to resort to buying from black market operators.
Mr Andrew Wilson, a civil servant, said he waited for over two hours at the Mobil Filling Station, Onipanu on Ikorodu Road, before deciding to look for an alternative.
Wilson said: ”I got here around 6 a.m. this morning and the queue has reached Palmgrove.
”When the queues seem moving, l decided to resort to the black market.
Another motorist, who gave his name simply as Lekan Balogun, returned without getting petrol to buy after waiting at NNPCL filling station at Jibowu for over an hour.
”I was on queue for six hours and when the situation was becoming rowdy, I decided to leave the station to avoid my car being vandalised”.
A commercial bus driver, who identified himself as Lasisi Abiodun, said he noticed the queues started on Saturday as early as 6 a.m.
“I thought it was the usual dawn rush by people rushing down to their various work places.
“By 11 a.m., the queues had built further, signalling that there was scarcity of petrol.”
The Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Mr Clement Isong, said his members received petrol products throughout the weekend.
He also confirmed that the logistic problem had been resolved, adding that there should be no need for panic.
He said: “In a couple of days, the backlog will be cleared. What you are seeing is panic buying.
”Today, the lines may get longer at the filling stations as motorists try to fill up their tanks.
“But I advise that there is no need to worry because NNPCL has enough stock.
“Normally, when you have situations like this (supply disruption), there will be backlogs to clear, but we have been trucking and people need to calm down because there are supplies.
‘’I can tell you that Mobil and TotalEnergies worked throughout yesterday (Saturday); ConOil and MRS are all trucking right now.
‘So, the situation is not as bad as it appears. It will clear out in the course of the week,” he added
Also, Mr Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Communications Officer, NNPCL, said the company had no issues with stock availability.
He explained that each time a supply disruption happens (like the one caused by logistics hiccups), it normally takes a maximum of five days for normalcy to return.
“It (logistics challenge) has been resolved. The thing is, once there’s a day or two in disruption, it takes about three to five days for normalcy to return.
“We have products and there is no cause for worry,” Soneye said
Similarly, Mr Ayo Cardoso, Coordinator, South-West Region of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said that five vessels laden with a total of 239 million litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit are currently at berth across ASPM, NOJ, Pinnacle, Techno and First Royal discharging.
He said that this would provide relief and wet Lagos region.
According to him, the Lagos Regional Office (LRS) summary report for the week from
April 21 to April 27 reads as follows;
“Premium Motor Spirit closed stock: 76,872,410 Premium Motor Spirit evacuated: 155,777,387
“AGO (Diesel) closing stock: 256,993,265
AGO (Diesel) evacuated: 84,391,453
“ATK (Aviation Fuel): closing stock- 88,797,125
ATK (Aviation Fuel) evacuated- 46,707,242 while number of stations visited was 213,” he added.
Cardoso said that the NMDPRA monitoring had set out to monitor filling stations and depots within Lagos metropolis and also around South West regions.
He appealed to Nigerians to avoid panic buying, saying that there was enough fuel in stock.
