It had been reported on Monday that there were long queues in some filling stations in Lagos while residents of the city expressed fears that there might be a fresh scarcity of the product.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said that the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as fuel and long queues being experienced in some filling stations in some Nigerian cities, particularly in Lagos is caused by distribution issues.
It had been reported on Monday that there were long queues in some filling stations in Lagos while residents of the city expressed fears that there might be a fresh scarcity of the product.
The long queues were noticeable at filling stations along the Ikorodu Road and Total Filling Station located at the Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way where the queues had led to traffic jams around the Ikeja axis of the state.
The PUNCH reports that many of the filling stations along the Ikeja axis, through Obafemi Awolowo Road in Ikeja, Lagos state capital were shut down, and that all the filling stations along Ogunnusi Road, inbound Berger, did not sell petrol to customers.
It was gathered that NNPCL mega filling stations along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway did not dispense fuel as of Monday evening.
On Tuesday morning, the NNPCL spokesperson, Femi Soneye, dismissed insinuations of fresh fuel scarcity, saying that the NNPCL did not have supply issues and that its products remained readily available.
Soneye, who added that the distribution issue in some areas had been resolved, was quoted as saying, “We are pleased to confirm that there are no supply issues, and our products remain readily available.
“The recent tightness experienced in certain areas was due to a brief distribution issue in Lagos, which has since been resolved.”
Also, the National Vice Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, said he was aware of the queues in some filling stations in
Lagos, but said the queues might be due to panic-buying on the part of customers.
Fashola said, “I am not in Lagos as we speak. But I heard about it too that there are queues in Lagos. It may just be panic buying. I am not sure there is fuel scarcity. People are just panicking. However, I will find out what the problem is.”
However, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, said he was not aware of the situation as he was not in Lagos at the time of filing this report.