Fuel Scarcity Hits Lagos …Now Sells for N400 per Litre in Abuja

Residents of Abuja and neighbouring states of Niger and Nasarawa are still facing tough times sourcing for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, with black marketers now selling the commodity for as high as N400 per litre.

The development came almost one week after the import of millions of dirty petrol from Europe into Nigeria disrupted the fuel supply system of the country, leading to long queues nationwide.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has ordered the recall of the contaminated fuel but oil marketers have been battling various challenges, ranging from petrol supply shortage to complaints by consumers who claimed the bad product has damaged their vehicles.

A significant percentage of filling stations in Nigeria’s capital city do not currently have petrol to dispense, Punch is reporting. Findings show that black marketers who sell petrol in jerry-cans are now the easily accessible suppliers of petrol in Abuja and neighbouring states.

While some of them priced their petrol for as high as N6,000 for a 10-litre jerry-can, others sold theirs at N4,000 for 10 litres of PMS, translating to N400 per litre.

The high cost of petrol by black marketers forced motorists to stay in lengthy queues, while those who could not wait in the queues had to part with the costly sum for petrol.

Meanwhile, long queues persist at filling stations in Lagos.