Nigerians have been reassured by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL). that by Wednesday, May 1, the current gasoline shortage and lines will end.
NNPCL Chief Communications Officer Mr. Olufemi Soneye stated on Tuesday in Lagos. Soneye claims that the firm now has more than 1.5 billion liters of goods available, enough to endure for a minimum of thirty days.
“Unfortunately, logistical problems caused a three-day distribution setback that has now been fixed.
He responded, “But as you know, it usually takes twice as long to recover from such disruptions and resume regular operations.” “Some people are taking advantage of this situation to maximize profits,” the speaker stated.
“Thankfully, product scarcity has been minimal lately, but these folks might be exploiting the situation for unwarranted gain. “The lines will be cleared out between today and tomorrow,” Soneye assured.
Similarly, Mr Hammed Fashola, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (lPMAN), expressed hope that the queues in Lagos and Ogun would ease off this week, relying on the words of the NNPCL. Fashola, however, stated that the queues in Abuja might tarry a bit due to the distance to Lagos.
“The information available to us from the NNPCL was that there was a logistics problem, and when that happens, it will disrupt the supply chain.
“That might be a delay in the movement of ships from the mother vessel to the daughter vessel before it gets to the depot tanks.
“Before we can correct that, surely it will take some days. I think by Tuesday or Wednesday, there will be more products available for lifti¹ng by marketers.
“It might take time before it can ease off in Abuja, considering the distance to Lagos and the bad roads; Lagos might be calm this new week,” Fashola assured.
Stranded motorists and commuters have expressed concern over frequent fuel scarcity in the Lagos metropolis. This has resulted in a few commercial vehicles, which led to a hike in fares.
The situation within Lagos metropolis showed that only a few filling stations were selling, with long queues in most parts.
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.
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.
