As scarcity hurts deeper, the government and marketers swap blames.

NNPC Limited’s Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, recently stated that there is enough petrol in stock to start loading trucks at all depots, despite fuel shortages in Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Ondo, Osun, Kaduna, Kano, Warri, and other cities across the country. This assumption was disputed by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN.

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Mike Osatuyi, IPMAN’s National Operations Controller, emphasized, however, that there is a shortage of supplies in the system, as seen by the long lines seen around the country.

Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, President of IPMAN, said the persistent scarcity was due to depot operators’ ex-depot prices and the difficulty of certain independent merchants to get items.

With approximately 1.8 billion liters of fuel in storage, Kyari assured media in Abuja shortly after a meeting with the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and Petrol Tanker Drivers, PTD, a section of NUPENG, that the lineups will diminish in the days ahead.

“Right now, we have almost 1.8 billion gallons of PMS in our hands, both in the sea and on land,” he says.

“This also implies that we now have a lot more capacity to load out of all of our facilities.” We’ve put in place procedures to ensure that all depots can load 24 hours a day.

“By doing so, the shortage generated by panic purchasing will be relieved, allowing normalcy to return to filling stations.”

“In instances like this, people usually go to the petrol station and buy more than they need, and this is what extra supply would fix.” I am certain that we will see the relief on this issue very soon.”

Kyari, who stressed that neither the Federal Government nor the NNPC has any plans to raise the price of gasoline at the pump, urged marketers to sell gasoline at the price set by the government.

Following discussions with the Nigerian Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association, DAPMAN, NUPENG, and MOMAN, he stated that the company should impose “appropriate punishments on any marketer caught selling petrol over the allowed price, including refusal to provide PMS to stations or depots.”

“In addition, the authorities will impose the appropriate legal punishments on any defaulting depot owner, ensuring that Nigerians continue to buy the goods at the permitted price.”

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He apologized for the inconveniences Nigerians are experiencing at filling stations and urged people to avoid panic purchasing and purchase only the amount of fuel they require.

Meanwhile, a prominent marketer who did not want to be identified told Vanguard that some marketers are hoarding supplies, resulting in fake scarcity.

“They’re searching for a method to profit from the current hardships that Nigerians are experiencing,” the marketer explained.

There is a shortage in the system, according to Mike Osatuyi, IPMAN’s National Operations Controller: “

There is a shortage in the system, and when there is a shortage, the lineups will be more noticeable.”

“It’s a really dry system.” The fact is that the country is devoid of gasoline. Where is the product when the NNPC claims there are over two billion gallons of fuel in the country?

“We are the marketers, and we believe in buying and selling in order to increase our profits. Nobody is going to hoard something they don’t have.

“I’ve been waiting for the merchandise for the last 11 days. Even the one I got today came from a third-party vendor. Are we stockpiling goods? Is it true that we’re hoarding our cash? Keep in mind that this can’t be true since if there’s an increase in supply, we’ll automatically lose.”

Mr. Okoronkwo, the President of IPMAN, has asked the Federal Government to assist immediately in the supply issues that his members are facing.

The continuing scarcity, according to Okoronkwo, was exacerbated by depot operators raising the ex-depot price and certain independent merchants’ inability to get the commodity.