Fuel queues may linger till next week, say marketers

Oil marketers are still apprehensive and are not opening their filling stations for business, causing queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, in many cities nationwide.

Dealers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, which controls about 80 per cent of filling stations across the country, said on Wednesday that the decision to close shop was because of the ongoing protests.

They, however, told our correspondent that the queues would clear out next week, stressing that it would be so risky to open filling stations, particularly in locations where the protests had been violent.

Nigerians commenced nationwide protests on August 1, 2024, as the organisers of the exercise declared that it would continue till August 10, 2024.

Responding to a question on why the queues for petrol have failed to clear in many locations despite the recent slowdown in the protests, the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, said, “The protest is still ongoing, so filling stations and trucks are not functioning optimally. This is because of the fear of attacks on our stations by protesters.

“During the ENDSARS protest, the businesses of oil marketers were attacked and destroyed and the government did not pay any compensation for it. Trucks that were carrying petrol and diesel were burnt in the Warri, Enugu, Sapele, and some other axes, and the government did not pay any compensation.

“So we are being very careful now. I also told you earlier that the security agencies had advised us not to attract protesters to our stations when these stations are opened. We thought the protests wouldn’t last and we asked our people to go and work, but unfortunately, with the way things are moving, we have to wait till the end of the protest.

“That is the reason why you see many stations are still closed, particularly in locations where the protests were violent. So we urge the protesters to calm down, they have made their mark and the government now understands the plights of the Nigerian people better.”

The IPMAN publicity secretary also stated that marketers were interested in seeing a reduction in the pump prices of petrol and diesel.

“The high prices of these commodities have caused their consumption to drop. People now have alternative sources and have reduced the purchase of these fuels, making our turn-around time drag and reducing profit margins,” he stated.

On his part, the National Operations Controller of IPMAN, Mustapha Zarma, said marketers were afraid, but promised that the situation would stabilise next week after the protests had ended.

“Everybody is afraid to put their trucks on the roads now because of the protests. Nobody wants to take chances. But now that the situation is improving gradually, we have dispatched some trucks to go and bring products from the coastal depots to other parts of the country.

“However, the fuel supply situation won’t clear immediately. It should stabilise by next week. But I must state that this is dependent on the protest because no one can predict it. We also urge the protesters to suspend the exercise because we won’t gain anything by heating the polity.”

In another development, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, revealed that the country currently spends $600m on fuel importation every month.

He stated that the high import bill was due to neighbouring countries, up to Central Africa, benefiting from the country’s fuel imports.

The minister stated this during an interview on AIT’s Moneyline programme which was posted on its Youtube channel on Wednesday.

Edun explained that the situation was the reason the President removed the fuel subsidy, as the country does not know the exact amount of fuel consumed internally.

The National Bureau of Statistics revealed that Nigeria’s petrol import were reduced to an average of one billion litres monthly after President Bola Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy on May 29 last year.

The Punch