Many fuelling stations were closed in Abuja and about five other states this week as the scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol caused heavy queues at the few outlets that dispensed the product.
Thousands of commuters in the federal capital territory (FCT), Nasarawa, Niger, Gombe, Sokoto and Anambra states were left stranded at various bus stops due to the scarcity of PMS required by transporters to run their vehicles.
This led to a hike in transport fares in the affected states, as the few transporters who had petrol raised their rates.
It was gathered that the scarcity was due to a shortage in the supply of PMS to the nation’s capital and other states, as this led to the closure of filling stations in the affected areas.
Oil marketers, however, stated that they would hold a meeting with the management of the retail subsidiary of the Nigerian national petroleum company (NNPC) limited today to know the cause of the shortage and how to tackle it.
The Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike blamed the queues on logistics challenges.
He said Independents have not been able to order for new products in the past two weeks because the NNPC Retail portal is down.
“The portal is down and we have not been able to request for products. We have a meeting with NNPC Retail tomorrow where we hope that the issue will be resolved. The challenge is logistic and we hope to have it resolved soonest.
