President Buhari in his first week as Minister of Petroleum Resources, will witness a major challenge as queues in filling stations in some major cities across the country are piling up.
Fuel queue in a filling station in Nigeria
Line of queues in filling stations in some major cities across the country appear to have stretched as the fuel scarcity worsened over the weekend in what appears to be a test for President Muhammadu Buhari in his first week as Minister of Petroleum Resources.
In spite of assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) industry operators remain sceptical that these were ominous signs the country may be heading for a big mess in the run up to the coming yuletide season.
On Saturday, Olufemi Adewole, the Executive Secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), said that all its members who own most of the products storage facilities across the country were fast running out of stock of products.
He offered no hope that the situation might ease in the near future as most marketers do not seem to possess the financial muscle to undertake further fuel importations.
"We are loading what we have. But, it is one thing to load, and another thing for it to be adequate. We are loading what NNPC is giving us. As it stands now, almost all marketers have run out of stock.
"Sadly, nobody has the means to import. No marketer has received payment for products imported since August last year," Adewole explained.
Although President Buhari gave approval a fortnight ago for the payment of about N413 billion as part of the subsidy arrears to marketers‎, Adewole said they were yet to receive the money.
"We learnt money has been approved, but the payment is yet to be made. Not one marketer has received a kobo. We are still waiting for the payment. If we got that, it would help us do better than we are doing at the moment," he said.
It can be recalled that last week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), in a statement by Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, called on Nigerians to desist from panic buying of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as fuel, stating that it has about 23 days of product supply in all its depots across the country.
He further stated that its depots have about 927.461 million litres of PMS which is enough to serve the country for the next 23 days if no drop of the product is imported within the period.
The NNPC blamed the resurgence of queues at petrol filling stations on rumour of an impending scarcity, assuring that it has enough products to meet the demand of the country.