Adedokun Waliyu 
Thirteen days after the Federal Government assured that the ongoing petrol shortage in the nation’s capital would ease, queues at filling stations have grown longer.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, however disclosed that the number of fuel trucks into Abuja has increased to 180 per day in its bid to end the queues.
But checks by Vanguard showed that while most stations were shut, the few that were opened to customers had long queues with motorists complaining of having to spend several hours on the queue.
Chaotic scenes were seen at Conoil and Total filling stations located at the Central Business District of Abuja as motorists tried to gain entrance to the stations without having to stay on the queue.
The Federal Government had about two weeks ago attributed the latest round of petrol scarcity to flooded roads in Lokoja, Kogi State, a major transit route for tankers bringing products into Abuja.
But the flood has since receded with traffic able to ply the road.
The Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage & Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, Ogbugo Ukoha revealed the improved trucking into the city yesterday while leading the monitoring team, explained that while the flood in Lokoja was responsible for the queues, the Authority has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to boost supply to Abuja through Ogoja and Benue route from the Calabar port.
According to him, “The flood in Lokoja has put a lot of pressure on Abuja. Ordinarily, Abuja requires 70 trucks to ensure the city is wet. But in the last few weeks, this has been very difficult. We have now decided to increase the number of 180 and 200 trucks daily to supply Abuja and its environs.
“The NNPC is also discharging PMS into barges in Calabar so that trucks can take the Benue route. There are additional but we are optimistic that the new measures will ease the queues very soon.”
The Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria, IPMAN, has also threatened to sanction petrol marketers that sell the product above the regulated price.
The secretary of the Suleja branch of the union, Mohammed Shauibu, who stated this in Abuja while responding to the latest scarcity in the capital city, declared that the scarcity is not an excuse for IPMAN members to sell PMS above the N180 per litre.
Speaking to the public on why the shortage has persisted, the Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike blamed it on logistics and bad state of roads in the country.
Ukadike explained that most inland depots were without the product, saying it was taking longer days for trucks to move from the south to the northern parts of the country.
“The problem is logistic in nature and also the effect of long hauls because most of the depots are without the product. The roads are also very bad and from Lagos to Suleja or Kaduna it takes about four days now rather than the normal 48 hours if the roads were in good condition.
There is also the challenge in Apapa. The way to go is to get the pipelines working”
