The continuous fuel shortage that has afflicted states all throughout Nigeria for weeks without relief has been the subject of several justifications from the Nigerian government and fuel traders.
While the NNPC claimed that access road issues in some areas of Lagos depots and ongoing “road infrastructure projects” around Apapa were the main causes of the queues in Lagos and Abuja, major marketing group IPMAN claimed that high prices imposed by fuel depot owners who store the product for the NNPC were to blame.
Long lines have returned to filling stations in numerous cities around the nation over the past few weeks, making it difficult for people to get to work or carry out their everyday chores.
Despite the government’s repeated assurances that it has enough supplies, there is still a shortage, with filling stations operating at reduced capacity.
Fuel scarcity struck major Nigerian cities including Abuja and Lagos in October. At the time, floods in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, prevented fuel truckers from distributing, according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Queues, however, reappeared weeks after the flood subsided. On Tuesday afternoon, a PREMIUM TIMES reporter visited gas stations in Abuja and discovered that many of them were closed, while others were overrun by motorcyclists, tricycle operators, and both private and commercial drivers.
