The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) President, Alhaji Debo Ahmed has said the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) petrol was still scarce in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs even after the floods that blocked Kogi State have receded because of the supply gap the disaster created.
Floods have stalled conveyance of the product from the coastal depots to Abuja from early October 2022.
Owing to the situation, the bulk of the trucks laden with PMS was trapped in Kogi State, the Federal Government was to some weeks later urge the transporters to take alternative routes in Niger and Benue States to ferry the product into Abuja.
In the melee of scarcity, some retail outlets closed shops to motorists, who turned to black marketers.
Over a week after the Lokoja flood receded, the PMS scarcity was biting harder in the FCT.
While some travellers blamed the continuing shortage in supply on the blockade of Benin -Abuja road by Auchi, the IPMAN President added that consumers were embarking on panic buying for fear of continuous shortage of supply.
Ahmed, who spoke to The Nation on phone, said the product was available in the depots, stressing that there should be increase in the loading.
His words:” You know in distribution cycle, if there is a little of gap in fuel supply, it takes some days before you can cover it up. It is the gap that emanated because of the flood that is still causing the little scarcity we have.
“They (suppliers) have to up their load from the depots to meet up because as it is coming people are buying. A lot of people are thinking there is still the issue (scarcity) so they will queue. It is not that there is no product, there is a lot of product in the depots. So, it is because of the break in supply of the product that is still causing the scarcity.”
Last week, only a few petrol stations were opened to customers.
The shortfall in supply resulted in endless queues around the few retail outlets that sold the product with fewer pumps.
While some of the stations vended the petrol for its official pump price of between N174 to N175/litre, some hiked their prices to as much as N185 per litre of more.
