The lingering fuel scarcity across major parts of the country is biting harder in the North-West region, crippling socio-economic activities, in States such as Kebbi, Kaduna, amongst others.
An investigation conducted in Birnin-Kebbi, the Kebbi State capital and its environs, reveals that only a few filling stations sell Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol. It was observed that none of the filling stations in the State capital and its environs sells the product at the regulated price of N185, while the few stations that open for business sell at between N280 and N300 per liter.
The Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Kebbi Central Motor park (Sabuwar Tasha), Birnin-Kebbi, Garba Dan-Malam, said the situation had become worrisome. Dan-Malam, who expressed optimism that the government would bring the situation under control, said the scarcity, which had been lingering for a while, had negatively affected his members.
The NURTW Chairman observed that the fuel scarcity and hike in its price had crippled the socio-economic activities of Nigerians, noting that for commercial activities to take place, people, goods and services must move from one place to another.
Dan-Malam said despite the increase in fuel price, transport fares charged by members of the union were reasonable. He, however, lamented that members of the union were not happy with the current situation. He, however, said, As leaders, we keep advising our members to be patient; things will be better. This is because we have hope in the present administration”.
When contacted, the Chairman, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), North-West Zone, Muhammad Tila, blamed the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (NNPCL) for the lingering problem. He said NNPCL was the only company responsible for importing fuel into the country, saying that many drivers used to spend seven to eight days in queues to lift the commodity to the North.
The chairman recalled that the Department of Security Services (DSS) gave the stakeholders in the petroleum industry 48 hours ultimatum; yet, the fuel was not available, especially in the North. Tila said before Nigeria used to have 10 to 20 ships on the sea waiting to offload, but now you hardly see two ships on the shores of the Nigerian sea.
He stressed the need for the Government to allow private registered depots to import the commodity.
