The Department of State Services, DSS, gave the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and oil marketers a 48-hour deadline to make the Premium Motor Spirit, often known as petrol, available to Nigerians, but the situation has remained the same, according to PulseNets.
It may be recalled that the nation’s secret police on Thursday gave the NNPC and other downstream sector players a 48-hour deadline to address the country’s ongoing gasoline shortage.
The DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, said this while speaking to press in Abuja. He said the ultimatum came after the agency had a private meeting with oil industry players, who agreed to end the shortage within the allotted period.
On Friday, however, oil marketers claimed that the product’s distribution was still challenging but were upbeat that the lines at different filling stations will soon disperse.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, which represents dealers, also threatened to suspend operations if the NNPCL persisted in denying them direct access to it for the purpose of paying for goods.
But according to a Saturday investigation by PulseNets, many petrol stations in the nation’s capital and its surroundings have yet to start offering the product to customers.
Even if some NNPC filling stations in the area appear to have enough goods, many of them are still dealing with the customary long line.
According to information obtained by our correspondent, certain petrol stations in satellite regions are charging as much as N200 per litre for the product, while those in the city centre charge between N180 and N190, which is more than the official price.
The product is retailing for at least N250 per litre in the majority of South-East States.
According to PulseNets’ investigations, many other regions of the nation have a similar situation.
An official who discussed the difficulty in obtaining the product with our correspondent bemoaned the way oil marketers are reportedly using the holiday season to raise fuel prices for consumers.
He claimed that those who don’t care about the poor artificially created the fuel shortage that is currently occurring across the nation.
He said, “It is Christmas time, this is what they do every year for their selfish gains. They don’t care about the ordinary Nigerians who depend on fuel to power their little businesses.
“Our problem in this country is that we don’t have price regulators. Nobody regulates prices of products in Nigeria, so anybody can wake up and change the price to whatever they like.
“The DSS gave an ultimatum on Thursday, what are they doing now, have they arrested anybody? We are waiting”.
The DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, told PulseNets that the ultimatum set by the Service was already producing fruitful results when asked about the future.
He claims that in an effort to reduce line-ups, some outlet stations have been instructed to sell the goods for 24 hours.
