Fuel still scarce in Maiduguri

IN spite of all the interventions from the federal government and the minister of petroleum, President Mohammadu Buhari, premium motor spirit PMS is still very much scarce in Maiduguri as long queues still persists.

Even the 8 pm curfew has not helped matters as some residents park their cars at any station suspected to have supplies before rushing home to beat the renewed restrictions imposed by the government.

Most of the independent marketers still remain closed while the major marketers like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC have been selling except for one day they missed last week said Ogini one of the managers.

The NNPC mega station on Molai road has been a major saving grace for people who are ready to sacrifice long hours to wait in the queue to get petrol.

When Nigerian Tribune visited the station, it had a long queue that was about a kilometre long stretching down to Damboa road junction by the road safety.

This sadly is due to the fact that NNPC mega station is the only station where products can be found on a daily basis in Maiduguri metropolis because the other three with the NNPC franchise are also shut down.

Some independent marketers on Kano Road, Damboa road and Bama road were seen open over the weekend for a short while but their prices were above N200 naira per litres.

Most ‘keke Napep’ drivers who interacted with the Nigerian Tribune said that they were not bothered by the lingering scarcity because they could get their products from the black market at a price between N250 and N300 a litre while a gallon sells between N1,600 and N1,800.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Borno State Council has strongly condemned the current artificial scarcity of PMS in Maiduguri.

The Union regretted in a release that the fuel situation in some other parts of the country has greatly improved yet it continues to deteriorate in the Maiduguri Metropolis.

It calls on the staff of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR in the state to strictly monitor and enforce Federal government’s directive of PMS pump price of 145 naira per litre.

Furthermore, the NUJ in the release signed by chairman Baba Shek called on the management of NNPC to be alive to their responsibility by ameliorating the unfortunate but avoidable hardship citizens have been subjected to with the scarcity of products.

It also regretted the unfortunate trend of fuel scarcity experienced by motorists due to the unpatriotic move by petrol marketers to make extra profit at the detriment of the wider society and called on the concerned authorities to collaborate with Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, IPMAN to ensure that illegal diversions, hoarding of petrol, hiking of pump price and under-dispensing is stopped.

According to the release, the State is grappling with enough security challenges coupled with a dwindling economy and should not be further compounded by these negative practices.

“Let us all unite and earn our living by making life easier rather than exploitation,” said chairman Baba sheikh