Fuel scarcity has again hit Lagos State and environs as many of the marketers have not been selling the product. Investigations by New Telegraph yesterday revealed that many stations in Ikorodu, Maryland, Ojota, Onipanu, Ikeja, Agege, Victoria Island, Lekki, Alimosho and some other areas were not selling. The scarcity had also lasted for many days. However, few marketers including some stations owned by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited occasionally dispensed the product.
Sources also said that there was scarcity in Abuja a few days ago but that many fuel stations have resumed dispensing the product to users. However, it was discovered that majority of the filing stations along Kubwa expressway and the suburb in Abuja, were not serving fuel yesterday evening. It was noticed that the few filling stations serving fuel had long queues.
Also, some filling stations within Wuse 2 had long queues as commuters struggled to buy fuel Speculation had been rife that some marketers were not selling on the anticipation that Dangote Refinery will soon start selling fuel to them at reduced price.
But the National Public Relations Officer of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, said the marketers could not have stopped selling fuel because of anticipation of purchasing the product at a lower rate from Dangote.
He stated that the normal thing was for the marketers to sell off their stock at the current price and buy at the new rate if Dangote begins to sell fuel. Ukadike said: “It is not economically and mechanically correct that we are not selling because Dangote is coming.
I think the situation should be that marketers have hastened up to sell their product because of Dangote so that the slash in price will not affect them. “The problem the marketers have here is that Dangote, in terms of the distribution of diesel, is selling one million litres which a single marketer can not afford.
“That is why you see marketers scamper to put their stations in order and continue to sell until their current stock is sold out. There is no way a marketer who bought a product at say N605 will like to keep it so that when Dangote begins to sell at say N500, he will not open his stations and begin to sell.
There is availability of AGO now. It is only when the product is not available that profiteering will set in. But once there is availability of the product, there will be no profiteering. Once there is scarcity, some marketers will indulge in profiteering
