The lingering fuel scarcity worsened in some parts of the country with motorists buying petrol between N300 and N350-litre in Abuja on Monday.
Some Abuja residents, who spoke with our correspondent, lamented the spike in the price of PMS as well as the difficulties experienced in accessing the product.
A motorist, who gave his name as Michael Adebanjo, said black marketeers were selling fuel between N300 to N350 as of Monday.
He said, “I’ve been buying from black marketeers between N300 to N350 per litre. There is no fuel in most filling stations in Abuja. The ones that have, there’s a very long queue. Since, I don’t have the time to wait, I often resort to the black market.”
Another motorist, who gave his name as Ubong Edet, said that while he was able to buy the product for N250 at a filling station over the weekend, difficulty in accessing it forced him to buy at N300 per litre at the black market.
“I bought for N250 on Saturday. I had to join a very long queue before I could even get it that day. Today, it was even more difficult. The queues are something else. So I decided to buy black market today. I bought it for N300 per litre.”
In Abuja, Khalif filling station in Kubwa, had dispensed the commodity at N250/litre on Sunday but had N165/litre displayed on its pumps. But once a motorist tells the fuel attendant the amount he or she wishes tThe National Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief John Kekeocha, however, stated that more trucks had loaded products and were heading Abuja.
He told our correspondent that “we are hopeful that very soon the queues in Abuja and environs will clear if all things remain equal and there is no continued agitation for payment of bridging claims.
“On price disparity, this is because many marketers bought their products at higher rates above what was approved by the government and they have to get the required margin in order to remain in business.”
Kekeocha added, “However, there has been no official pronouncement of any review in petrol price whether upward or otherwise. So the official price of petrol still remains at the N165/litre government-approved rate.”o buy, this would be calculated based on black market rate.
