The fear of scarcity spread across the metropolis.
In Abuja, the queues, which have lingered for some days, continued.
In both cities, black marketers flooded major highways with petrol in cans, selling to motorists on the roadside.
In Lagos, vehicles lined up at Ajah, Lekki, Victoria Island and the mainland areas in search of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.
It was the same situation in Sango-Ota, Mowe, Ibafo and Arepo axis on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
There were long queues all over Abuja. Very few petrol stations had the product.
Most of the outlets on the Kubwa Expressway were shut.
The few that had the product were packed with vehicles. It was the same in the Nyanya area.
At the city centre, queues created gridlock in parts of Wuse and Garki.
Black marketers had a field day, selling from between N300 to N400 per litre.
The situation may worsen if the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) carries out its threat to withdraw haulage service should the Federal Government not address rising operational costs.
But the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said there was no need for panic buying.
Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Garba Deen Muhammad, said in a statement: “The NNPC Ltd wishes to assure the public that the company has sufficient PMS stock to meet the needs of Nigerians.
“The public is, therefore, advised not to engage in panic buying of petrol; and to ignore all rumours that may suggest otherwise.
“In line with the existing laws of the land, NNPC Ltd. is deeply committed to ensuring energy security for the country.”
In Ajah, an NNPC mega station was shut.
The gate of an NNPC station in Mushin was also closed.
Many other stations shut their gates to motorists on Lagos Island, except Oando on the Lekki-Ajah Expressway.
But there were no queues in all the petrol stations along Ikorodu Road as motorists drove in to refill with ease.
The situation was the same around Ketu, Ojota and Mile 12.
A filling station manager told The Nation that marketers were hoarding the fuel in anticipation of an increase in the pump price.
Isaiah Jesuwale, who works with Mobil filling station in Mushin, said: “There is nothing like queue here as you can see. The news of fuel scarcity is a rumour and nothing more. Fuel is still at N162.50 and there has been no directive from above for it to change.”
Credit- The Nation
