Fuel queues linger in Abuja, Lagos as NARTO protests diesel price

08 Feb Fuel queues linger in Abuja, Lagos as NARTO protests diesel price

Fuel queues lingered in some parts of Lagos and Abuja on Monday, with many filling stations shut. Some members of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners had discontinued operations in protest against the low freight rate for petrol which they receive from government.

NARTO in a statement by its National President, Alhaji Yusuf Lawal Othman, said the members found it difficult to sustain the business as diesel price rose along with spare parts costs, while the freight rate they charged was regulated and paid in arrears.

“And then we will also tell them to park if nothing is done because we can’t operate in such a way. We can’t operate. We can’t work if nothing is done to increase the freight rate. The condition is unbearable because of the cost of diesel,” said Othman whose members haul petroleum products in trucks from the ports and deports to retailing fuel stations nationwide.

He, therefore, urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to urgently increase the freight rate to reflect the present costs of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel and spare parts.

Othman said the ex-depot cost of diesel rose to N401 per litre on Monday, noting that it could hit N420 per litre soon if it was not checked.

“Today, the price of AGO ex-depot is N401 per litre. It means that in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, it will reach N420 to N430. At the fuel stations it will reach like N450,” he said.

The National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, also stated that the fear over subsidy withdrawal had been in the minds of both private depot owners and some retailers, leading to product shortage at filling stations.

“I’ve explained that DPOs are studying the situation around subsidy, since the government has been making various statements on this matter and this has its way of affecting the market,” he said.

But the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had described the queues as panic buying. Its spokesperson, Garba-Deen Mohammed, could not be reached when contacted on Monday.

In a recent statement issued by the company on the matter, it said, “The NNPC Limited wishes to assure the public that the company has sufficient PMS stock to meet the needs of Nigerians.