By Ogaga Ariemu
President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, has revealed that the non-supply of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is the reason for the product scarcity in Abuja, Nasarawa, and other states.
Gillis-Harry disclosed this in an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Saturday, reacting to the re-emergence of fuel queues in Nigeria.
DAILY POST gathered that fuel queues have resurfaced in the nation’s capital and neighboring Nasarawa, as well as other states, as motorists scramble for the product.
For instance, the NNPCL retail filling station along Kubwa Expressway had massive queues on Friday, similar to Ranoil in Gwarimpa. Meanwhile, the majority of filling stations along the Kubwa Expressway, Lugbe, and Airport Road axis were without fuel on Saturday morning, DAILY POST gathered.
Speaking on the development, Gillis-Harry lamented that he visited numerous filling stations but could not find fuel.
According to him, fuel marketers cannot fix prices since they are not importing the product; rather, they sell according to the amount they buy. He stressed that the reason for the fuel queues and scarcity is because PETROAN members and marketers do not have the product.
“Yesterday (Friday), I went to over fifteen filling stations in Abuja, including NNPCL retail outlets, but there is no product. If they say they increase prices, it is their own thing. You sell according to how much you buy the product.
“We don’t have the product, that is the reason for the scarcity. We cannot fix a price because we don’t import the product; it is NNPCL that is the sole importer.
When asked if the planned commencement of fuel supply by Dangote refinery in mid-July 2024 could be blamed for the scarcity, he said, “Dangote refinery has not brought in any fuel, even Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), we are struggling to have it. What we are saying is that Dangote is facing the herculean challenge of meeting the deadline. We are proud of having a refinery of 650,000 barrels per day in Nigeria.
“Meanwhile, NNPCL cannot say because the Dangote refinery fuel supply is coming on board, they will stop its import. Nigerians depend on PMS daily. Dangote has not produced a liter of PMS.
“The issue is that there is a supply challenge with NNPCL. NNPCL has just a few filling stations. PETROAN and other stakeholders have several across the country. It is critical to ensure that all major stakeholders are aware of the things happening in the sector to avoid situations like this.
“We should ask NNPCL to up their game to halt the supply challenge,” he told DAILY POST.
When DAILY POST called the spokesperson of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, he didn’t take the call nor reply to the text.
The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, told DAILY POST to call him by noon on Saturday regarding the matter.
The development comes as the National Bureau of Statistics, in its latest Petrol Price Watch, reported that the average price of the product per liter rose to N769.62 in May 2024.
Recall that in June of last year, the fuel subsidy removal was announced, which led pump prices to increase to around N700 per liter from N238.11.
