Nigerians keep vigil at filling stations as petrol now sells above N500

Despite repeated assurances from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Nigerians have continued to waste valuable time at filling stations queuing up to get the scarce commodity at a much higher price.

Since February 10, 2022 when the news broke that there was an adulterated fuel in circulation, and need to withdraw it from the market, Nigerians have been going through pain and distress, following the disruptions of their economic activities in view of the centrality of the fuel supply chain to the economy.

In some parts of Lagos, commercial drivers have resorted to spending nights at filling stations to buy fuel at N200 per litre. There, commercial taxi drivers, commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators, popularly called Okada riders, have continued to experience difficulty in filling their vehicles with petrol.

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Apart from the black market prices that now range between N500 and N1,000 per litre, some petrol stations were jerking their prices from the prevailing price of N162 per litre to between N175, N200 and N300 per litre, according to findings.

At the Oando filling station on Ekoro Road, Abule-Egba, Lagos, petrol was sold for N300 per litre at the weekend. At the Mobil filling station on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Abule-Egba, it was sold at the usual N162 per litre, but black marketers fronting for some of the station attendants sold jerry cans at N250 per litre within the premises.

The price of petrol at Dahaush and Cynai filling stations in the Igando area of Lagos, was N200 per litre, while at Enyo, which is situated in the same neighbourhood, the price was N250 throughout last week.

Businesses that depend on generators for power in the face of epileptic electricity supply are counting their losses. Frozen foods sellers, barbing salons, football viewing centres, provision stores, beer parlours, have all fallen on bad times.

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Commenting on the situation, a commercial motorcycle operator, Abubakar, said that since he bought petrol at an abnormal price, he was forced to increase his fare from N100 to N200 so as to remain in business, while a commuter, Abiodun, lamented that he boarded a vehicle from Iyana Ipaja to Oshodi at N600 instead of the usual N200.

An independent marketing station manager along Ipaja road, Eyo Akesan, blamed the hike in the price of the products to the high price at which the major marketers sold the product to them.

“It is how we buy. We have to make some profit, at least. That is why some others have closed their filling stations. That is how it is and we don’t know if it will not get to N200 per litre because the suppliers always increase their rates.”

An audit report published by the NNPC in June 2020, showed that three of Nigeria’s four refineries gulped N1.64 trillion in cumulative losses recorded in their operations since 2014. Two of these refineries are the 210,000 barrels per day capacity Port Harcourt Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited and 110,000 barrels per day Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited.

The audit reports showed that combined losses from the two refineries were N208.6 billion in 2014; N252.8 billion in 2015; N290.6 billion in 2016; N412 billion in 2017, and N475 billion in 2018. Further reports revealed that cumulative losses from the operations of the four refineries in 2017 and 2018 stood at about N412.8 billion.

Expectation is rife among stakeholders that a huge refinery, like the upcoming Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company, alongside refurbished refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna undergoing turnaround maintenance and the modular refineries operating in Edo, Imo and Rivers States will, hopefully, turn things around.