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Petrol dealers and artificial scarcity

By Maria Famakinwa

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Nigerians last week were shocked about the return of queues to filling stations across the country as some of the filling stations were either out of stock or simply refused to sell in order to create artificial scarcity.
The situation in Akure, Ondo State capital, was not different as motorists who could not get petrol from filling stations settled for the black market. The speculations that petrol price had been hiked from N160 to N212.61 per litre were triggered by what the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) called March guiding prices posted on its website last week.
The PPPRA, in its March template posted last Thursday night, put the pump price of petrol at N212.61 per litre before the agency deleted it midday last Friday. According to the template, expected ex-depot price is N206.42, while the landing cost is N189.61 for the month of March.
The Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Mr Abdulkadir Saidu, said that the agency was still mindful of the Federal Government’s deliberations with the organised labour on the matter. He said, “PPPRA is also mindful of the current discussion going on between the government and the organised Labour on the deregulation policy. While consultation with the relevant stakeholders is ongoing, PPPRA does not fix or announce prices and therefore there is no price increase.
“The current petrol price is being maintained while consultations are being concluded. The guiding prices posted on our website was only an indication to current market trends and do not translate to any increase in pump price of petrol.”
In his reaction, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said that there will be no increase in the price of petrol for now as discussions were still ongoing between government and the organised labour as well as stakeholders. His words, “I have made contact with the relevant authorities, the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and wish to assure members of the public, especially the organised labour and workers, that there is no such increase for now.”
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylvia, also said that President Muhammadu Buhari and himself knew nothing about the purported hike in fuel price and apologized to Nigerians for the distress and inconvenience the unfortunate information might have caused.
He said, “Dear Nigerians, you are by now very aware of the news trending that the Federal Government has increased the price of petrol to N212.61 per litre.
“Irrespective of the source of that information, I want to assure you that it is completely untrue. Neither Mr President who is the Minister of Petroleum Resources, nor my humble self who deputise for him as the Minister of State, has approved that the pump price of petrol be increased by one naira. I would therefore urge you to disregard this misleading information.”
Some motorists who spoke with The Hope across Ondo State revealed that most filling stations have fuel but refused to sell based on the premonitions that the pump price will jump up and they will make abnormal profit.
In the submission of a commercial driver, Mr Akinwale Awoyemi, he lamented that the hike in fuel price was uncalled for given the hardship Nigerians are presently going through. He said,”I have been on the queue for almost an hour and about getting to my turn, one of the attendants came to tell us that there was no more petrol. Though we knew that she lied, since they refused to sell what will I do? Some of us who needed fuel at all costs opted to buy from the black market. The few that open are not ready to sell at the normal price, even though they were still selling the old stock. Government should please find a lasting solution to this reoccurring petrol scarcity problem,” he pleaded.
Another commercial driver, Mr Opeyemi Adeyemi, also called on the Federal Government to address the current petrol scarcity as he revealed that some filling stations were hoarding fuel to exploit customers.”We want decisive steps taken by the federal government by sealing any filling station that refuse to sell fuel.
When told that the Federal Government had denied increasing petrol price, he said,”why are we buying at N200 per litre? Some filling stations who sell between N172 and N175 per litre are few and with long queues. We want the Federal Government to do the needful by forcing filling stations owners to maintain the old price. This has been the normal situation anytime they want to increase fuel, and we understand. Passengers are also not finding it easy. Distance of N50 before is now N100. Some passengers who cannot cope resort to trekking. We need urgent solutions to this petrol price predicament because it affects everyone of us,” he said.
A car owner, Mrs Tayo Agbaje, who also could not get petrol bemoaned the attitude of filling station owners for refusing to sell, even while she claimed that they have fuel. Justifying her claim she said,”My friend who heard the news of increment in petrol pump price quickly drove to the nearby filling station and bought ten litres at the rate of N165 per litre. She called me and told me about fuel price increment, I rushed to the same filling station that my friend bought fuel from not up to an hour that she called me, only to be told that they do not have fuel. I wonder why some people will want to make a fortune from other people’s misfortune.
“ This problem would not have been if steps had been taken in the past to solve it. Why are our refineries not functioning? It is embarrassing that Nigeria has three refineries now moribund. The problem of fuel scarcity will persist unless government do the needful by making our refineries work. For how long shall we continue with this problem? Foodstuffs prices have skyrocketed, basic essential needs are no longer within the reach of the common man, yet we have to battle with petrol price increment. Nigerians can no longer cope with these harsh economic conditions.”
Sharing a similar sentiment, a motorcyclist, Sule Idris, said that he had decided to park his motorcycle.
On how much they are selling fuel, he said that the price varies but that his major problem was that most filling stations despite having fuel refused to sell for possible hike in price. His words:”I have tried all I could without getting fuel. There is nothing I can do except to park my okada. With the current price, owners of filling stations are making it hard for transporters to make money. We are really suffering in this country. It is difficult to eat, to pay house rent and to send our children to school. Though, the Federal Government has denied increasing the petrol price, it should back it up with action by sending task force out to arrest owners of filling stations who sell above N165 per litre. It is then we can be convinced that the Federal Government knows nothing about it. Arresting those selling above the normal price will send a signal to others and things will go back to normal.”
Another Okada rider, Mr Kunle Balogun , also appealed to the concerned authorities to address the suffering of Nigerians in order to get fuel. He said that most Nigerians are good at blaming the federal government even though they are the cause of the problem. How can we explain filling stations’ refusal to sell fuel so as to create artificial scarcity? The pains we are causing ourselves are more than what we are facing from the government.
A civil servant Titilayo, who paid N200 fare from NEPA to the Federal Secretariat lamented that she agreed to pay the price after waiting for almost 35 minutes, thinking that the fare price would be reduced but it did not work out. “Normally, I used to pay N100. It is not funny at all because I have to cope with this as long as it lasts. If I calculate my children’s transport fares with mine now that most taxi drivers collect N100 per drop, I will be spending N800 per day. I don’t understand how I can cope with this condition. Many people now prefer to trek. The problem mostly is from filling station owners who are trying to create artificial scarcity in order to exploit customers. Government should please look into this”.

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