Petrol price increased again amidst scarcity, sells for N190/Litre

Nigerians are now paying more for petrol despite the official price still fixed at N162.50 and N165 per litre.

Independent marketers, who started implementing a new price regime of between N170 to N190 at the weekend, insisted yesterday that it would be difficult for them to sell at the official pump price.

Besides, scarcity of the product resurfaced in Lagos, Akure, Ado-Ekiti, Abeokuta, Jos, among other towns in the Southwest.

The situation in Abuja worsened at the weekend with long queues at the filling stations where petrol is sold.

READ ALSO: Fuel scarcity returns in Lagos as filling stations hoard product

In Lagos yesterday, many independent stations were shut, the few that were dispensing recorded long queues.

It also caused gridlocks on Ikorodu Road, Ikoyi, Ikeja, and Airport Road, among other places.

Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN)  in a statement by its Lagos State Depot (LSD) Secretary, Akeem Balogun, said: “With the current price, there is no way we can sell less than N180 per litre.

The chaos in the stations that dispensed fuel with a fewer number of pumps was worsened by jerry can-carrying residents in search of the product to power their generators.

In Lagos, the queues were most noticeable at filling stations owned by major marketers in traffic-prone areas like Oshodi, Ejigbo, Ikeja, Egbeda, Ikotun Igando, Iyanaiba and Satellite.

Nearly all stations operated by independent dealers in the commercial city did not open to motorists.

Motorists in Osun, Kwara, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Kano, Katsina, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Benue, Nasarawa, Borno, Yobe, Imo, Abia and Gombe had no challenges purchasing fuel from both major and independent dealers, but petrol still sold between N165 and N180 per litre.