FUEL SCARCITY: Commuters groan as long queues resurface in Kwara

Amid the crisis of fuel scarcity resulting from hike in the prices of petrol in different parts of the country, long queues have resurfaced in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

Commuters who spoke with our correspondent on Wednesday expressed their plight over the sudden hike and its resultant implications for their day-to-day activities.

Isa Abdullahi, a civil servant in the state, described the recent situation as unacceptable.

“It is sad that the problem of fuel scarcity which had led to increase in the petrol price still persists in different parts of the country. It has become increasingly difficult to predict what you spend transporting yourself to work. I’ll urge the governments to rise and do something urgent”, he said.

Another commuter who identified herself as Bolakale Alimat said the abhorrent development was as a result of lack of proactive leadership.

She blamed the hike on the inability of the government to prevail on marketers intentionally hoarding the product for selfish interests.

Read also:NANS threatens to shut down filling stations over hike in fuel price

“I am worried that despite that Nigeria is an oil producing country, we are here going through needless sufferings. This is bad. When you’re spending more than you’re earning, then it means things aren’t normal. We beg the authorities to act fact on this”, she said.

Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has blamed the fuel scarcity on distribution challenges.

The IPMAN President, who appeared in a Channels Television Programme, Politics Today, on Tuesday, said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has a sufficient supply of petroleum products.

Petroleum marketers, according to him, were supposed to get the products from tank farm owners at N148.19 per litre but now received products at N185-N210.

IPMAN boss said: “Their excuse will be that they hired vessels to take it from the mother vessel, pay all these charges, and some of these things are dollarised, so you have no choice. I think we can come together as a country to see how we put some of these dollarisation things, use naira and pay some of these things.”

By Ambali Abdulkabeer

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