Prices skyrocket as petrol scarcity bites harder

 Marketers blame supply shortage, NNPC keeps mum

Nigerians have expressed anger and frustration over the prolonged scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, across various states nationwide.

It was observed on Wednesday that the scarcity of petrol led to widespread queues by motorists at filling stations in Abuja, Kaduna, Niger, Adamawa, Kano, Bauchi, and Delta, among others.

Although the queues were not severe in the South-West, findings showed that the cost of petrol in most of the affected states was close to N1,000/litre at filling stations.

Marketers explained that the South-West had fewer queues because petrol normally moves from the coastal areas in the zone to the North, adding that the recent protests halted the free movement of trucks to other regions.

They further noted that suppliers of petrol would first supply their stations in the South-West before moving products to other regions, stressing that the low supply had made it tough to have enough products to take other states far North.

Black marketers took advantage of the situation in states that had severe scarcity, as they sold petrol for between N1,200/litre and N1,500/litre depending on the area of purchase.