The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. has informed Nigerians that the current fuel scarcity and long queues will be resolved by Wednesday.
Olufemi Soneye, NNPCL’s Chief Communications Officer, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.
Soneye mentioned that the company currently has an excess of 1.5 billion liters of products, adequate for at least 30 days.
“Unfortunately, we encountered a three-day distribution disruption due to logistical issues, which has now been fixed. However, recovering from such interruptions typically takes twice the time to resume normal operations,” he clarified.
Soneye also noted, “Some individuals are taking advantage of this situation for undeserved profits. While product scarcity has been minimal recently, these individuals might be exploiting the circumstances.”
He reassured the public, stating that the queues will be cleared out by today or tomorrow.
Additionally, Hammed Fashola, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), expressed confidence that queues in Lagos and Ogun would decrease this week, based on NNPCL’s assurances.
Fashola highlighted, “NNPCL’s information points to a logistics issue disrupting the supply chain, which could take a few days to rectify. I expect more products to be available for marketers to lift 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 worries among stranded motorists and commuters due to the recurrent fuel scarcity in Lagos, leading to increased fares by some public transport operators.
In Lagos metropolis, only a handful of filling stations were operational, with long lines observed in most locations. Similar fuel scarcity was evident in areas like Abule-Egba, Abbatoir Road in Agege, Akowonjo Road, Bariga, Fola-Agoro, and Lasu-Igando Road.
Filling stations that sold petrol also witnessed long lines of vehicles extending for several meters.
In various parts of the city, queues were visible at stations such as Mobil, NIPCO, TotalEnergies, Forte Oil, and ConOil along Ikorodu Road.
The queues extended to around 500 meters at North West in Maryland, Gbagada, NIPCO along Ijede road in Ikorodu, and TotalEnergies at the NNPC bus stop in Ejigbo.