Petrol marketers have blamed the fresh petrol scarcity in the country on supply challenges on the part of the sole importer of the premium commodity, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
ALSO READ: End slave wage – Labour to NASS
The marketers said they have had to resort to depot owners to get petrol available at their retail outlets hence the “slight” increment in the prices of the indispensable product across the country.
The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, spoke on behalf of the marketers to newsmen on Tuesday.
Petrol scarcity hit the country of late with the state-managed NNPC blaming the shortage on “adverse weather conditions” and “flooding”.
Snake-like queues have been seen at filling stations across the country. The situation has worsened traffic situation in states as the long queues spilt on major roads, hindering vehicular movement just as thousands of people were stranded at bus stops with transport fares doubling the previous amounts.
Aside from NNPC filling stations selling at about ₦570 in Lagos, retail outlets owned by independent marketers jerked up their prices from about ₦615 to over ₦650. The prices are far higher in Abuja and other states.
PETROAN chief (Gillis-Harry) confirmed that the NNPC, which imports petrol into the country and supplies marketers, has not changed its price but “if we do not get the product directly from NNPC, we will get it from depots struggling to do everything to get products out in the market, so the prices will not be the same”.
CULLED FROM CHANNELS
