Fuel crisis: Black market takes over major Nigerian cities as scarcity worsens
…Hike, scarcity rage more in Lagos, Calabar
…Desperate consumers bear brunt of scarcity, hike in transport fare
…Product sells high as N500 per litre
…We are collaborating with NNPCL to improve distribution – MOMAN
…Private depot owners are to be blamed for scarcity — IPMAN
By Seun Ibiyemi
As scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, worsen in the Country, investigation by Nigerian NewsDirect has revealed that black market has taken over major cities in the Country where scarcity of PMS and difficulty to get the product from filling stations, have continued to push buyers to road side sellers called “black marketers.”
The situation according to report gathered was more heightened over the weekend in Lagos and some major cities of the Country, such as Calabar, capital of Akwa Ibom, where pump price has risen up to N500 per litre.
In Calabar city, black market sellers have taken advantage of the scarcity selling for up to N700 per litre.
In Lagos, this is even as a keg of 5 litres of petrol is sold between the range of N2500 to N3000 in places like Maryland and Ajah of the State during the weekend.
It was also gathered from motorists who complained how that buyers are being cheated with a 5-litre keg sold for N2500 only containing about 4 litres of PMS.
Nigerian NewsDirect learnt that some filling stations have stock but refused to dispense the product to the black marketers at midnight or in the early hours of the day.
The development has caused untold hardship to Nigerians as transport fare as well as prices of goods and services have been hiked.
However, the situation worsened in the last two days as commuters have resulted to trekking the distance to their destinations since motorists have pulled their vehicles off the road.
Transport fare in Lagos over the weekend recorded about a 100 percent increase.
For instance, motorists now charge N1,200 from Ajah to Oshodi, which formerly used to be about N700, while some other distance that used to cost between N50 and N100 now go for about N200 to N250.
This is just as Bolt and Uber drivers have raised the alarm that the scarcity was negatively impacting on their business as many of them had resorted to buying PMS from the blackmarket.
Speaking to Nigerian NewsDirect, Mr Kehinde Akinola, said the fuel situation in the capital city, Abuja, is uncalled-for and stressed that apart from the hike in pump price of the product, the challenge is the unavailability.
“You can’t even get a filling station to buy from.
“The few that are open for business sell a litre for between N400 to N500 with long queues that have forced many of us to patronise black market dealers.”
However, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) had said that it is working with the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd., to improve the distribution of petrol across the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of MOMAN, Mr Clement Isong said this in an interview with journalists in Lagos during the weekend against the backdrop of the current scarcity of petrol and long queues at filling stations.
Isong said the association had been holding a daily logistic emergency meeting with the downstream management of NNPCL on how to improve the supply of petrol.
According to him, the collaboration with NNPCL will enhance the distribution of petroleum products in the country.
“We are doing depot to depot check-in and check-out to enhance efficiency, also having logistic supply meetings with NNPCL.
“There is also collaboration among our members to cushion supply to various MOMAN’s stations.
“We arranged it in a way that any MOMAN member who does not have product can pick from fellow members’ depot to minimise supply gaps,” he said.
Isong also said the effort was to improve the supply of petrol at filling stations across the country.
“NNPCL had an operational meeting with MOMAN to ensure that products are effectively distributed across the country.
“The logistics meeting was to ensure adequate distribution of products to stations across the country,” he added.
The helmsman said MOMAN members would be working late and during the weekend to bridge product supply gaps.
He said MOMAN had been pushing out more products than it normally did.
He added that the scarcity was as a result of delay experienced at the point of receiving products from offshore to onshore at the port.
He, however, said the logistics challenge had been resolved and members were currently trucking out products.
However, the oil marketers and petroleum depot operators, under the aegis of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), called for quick intervention by the Federal Government.
Its Chairman, Mrs Winifred Akpani, urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to comply with the Federal Government’s directive to end payment of port charges in dollars for petroleum products brought into the Country.
Akpani maintained that accessing forex through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) window would enhance their capacity, facilitate seamless supply of petrol, and birth a regime of sustainability in terms of storage, distribution and supply across the nation.
“DAPPMAN hereby calls on the government to establish a level playing field in the sector by giving petroleum marketers access to forex at the CBN exchange rate for their operations,” said Akpani.
He emphasised that accessing FX at the official rate would boost fuel supply across the country.
She added that the burden of sourcing forex through the parallel market for transactions domiciled in Nigeria had left petroleum marketers in dire straits.
She said, “Accessing dollars for our operations has been an insurmountable hurdle for petroleum marketers.
“The difference between CBN exchange rate and the parallel market exchange rate continues to get wider by the day.”
Some filling stations owned by major oil marketers were seen selling petrol at regulated price of N170 per litre, while stations belonging to IPMAN members sell between N220 and N240 per litre.
Most filling stations that have fuel collect N100 at the entrance before vehicles are allowed to enter filling stations, and additional N100 to sell product to vehicles owners.
Black marketers have taken advantage of the situation to hoard products and sell to desperate motorists at exorbitant prices.
Also in a chat with Nigerian NewsDirect on Sunday, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), President Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo disclosed that the private depot owners are to be blamed for the scarcity.
He urged that the moment petrol distribution is left in the hands of IPMAN, the issue of scarcity will be solved.
“There is enough product (fuel) but the distribution is the problem, it shouldn’t be left in the hands of private depot owners. Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN should deal directly with the distribution of the product.
“Private Depot owners are the ones putting the country in this problem. The moment they say the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN do the distribution directly, the problem will be solve and the price,” he said.
