The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. has reassured Nigerians that the ongoing fuel scarcity and queues will be resolved by Wednesday.
Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Communications Officer of NNPCL, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
Soneye stated that the company currently possesses an excess of 1.5 billion litres of products, sufficient for at least 30 days.
“Regrettably, we faced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues, which has now been rectified. However, recovering from such disruptions usually takes double the time to resume normal operations,” he explained.
Soneye added, “Some individuals are exploiting this situation for undue profit. Fortunately, product scarcity has been minimal lately, but these individuals might be taking advantage of the situation.”
He assured, “The queues will be cleared out between today and tomorrow.”
Similarly, Hammed Fashola, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), expressed optimism that queues in Lagos and Ogun would diminish this week, relying on NNPCL’s assurances.
Fashola noted, “The information from NNPCL suggests a logistics problem, which disrupts the supply chain. Correcting this might take some days. I anticipate more products available for lifting by marketers by Tuesday or Wednesday.”
However, Fashola cautioned that queues in Abuja might persist due to the distance from Lagos and poor road conditions.
There are concerns from stranded motorists and commuters due to frequent fuel scarcity in Lagos. This led to fare hikes by some commercial vehicles.
In Lagos metropolis, only a few filling stations were operational, with long queues observed in most areas. Similar fuel scarcity was observed in Abule-Egba and surrounding areas, Abbatoir Road in Agege, Akowonjo Road, Bariga, Fola-Agoro, and the popular Lasu-Igando Road.
Filling stations dispensing petrol experienced long queues of vehicles stretching several meters.
Across the metropolis, queues were seen at filling stations like Mobil, NIPCO, TotalEnergies, Forte Oil, and ConOil along Ikorodu Road.
Fuel queues at North West at Maryland, Gbagada, NIPCO along Ijede road, Ikorodu, and TotalEnergies at the NNPC bus stop in Ejigbo stretched to about 500 meters from the pumps.