Fuel Scarcity: The fraud, connivance that keeps Abuja groaning

 ′Scarcity enters third week, end not in sight

Ordinarily, there would be nothing so spectacular any more for discourse concerning the persistent fuel scarcity in the country that dates back to over two decades.

This is because, such attempts remind one about the pains, anguish and sufferings Nigerians have experienced during the periods of fuel crises in a country that is a major producer of the product.But one thing remains paramount. Anytime there is scarcity of petroleum products in the country; be it fuel (PMS), kerosene or gas, government agencies responsible for ensuring that these products are never in short supply at determined costs and products marketers, re-enact the old blame game among themselves while Nigerians groan in pains.
It is more than three weeks since the long queues and endless vigil by Nigerians  at the filling stationscame back.Interestingly, Nigeria ranks as Africa’s largest producer of oil and the sixth largest oil producing country in the world. The explanations Nigerians get from these agencies which include; the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), PPMC, DPR, PPPRA and even Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF), the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Depot Managers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MOMAN) and more are either marketers are the ones hoarding the products, or marketers denying and blaming the government agencies for not supplying enough quantity to them among other reasons.

The current scarcity is gradually exposing the two parties as the blame trading they have so far engaged in is revealing much about their hidden operations over time that has brought us to the mess.

Security angleCan the scarcity be blamed on the fact that security operatives safeguarding the loaded vessels on the high sea are part of the problem while products are not enough at depots? Is it also true that
marketers have limited quantity of trucks supply to lift from the depots? We

Abuja Metro sources revealed that only 80% of the products discharged are supplied to them by the PPMC, and no one could explain what happens to the remainder, and also even the supplied percentage or quantity don’t all go out to the market as the facts around the nation indicate that what the nation has been relying is far less than 40 percent if the quantity required to stabilize the market.

NNPC intervention?

The NNPC had however, on March 2 said it has supplied an additional volume of 33 million litres of premium motor spirits to the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) for onward distribution to fuel stations across the metropolis and beyond.

Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim stated in a press release that the extra volume of 25,000 metric tonnes of fuel, the equivalent of 33 million litres was supplied to the marketers as part of measures by the Corporation to end the artificial scarcity.

“While we intensify our on-going direct monitoring of fuel stations across Lagos and its environs, we are providing the extra volume of product to eliminate the noticeable queues arising from the induced scarcity,’’ Ibrahim stated.
The NNPC also appealed to marketers to stop hoarding and panic buying.

Alert, not enoughThat was enough message to put a stop to the development, and so NNPC also issued another statement on March 3 disclosing that it would in conjunction with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) commence detailed monitoring of fuel stations in Lagos and its environs as well as any other states to checkmate hoarding and panic buying.

“We tried it in Abuja and its environs and today the effective monitoring has decimated the hitherto long fuel queues in Abuja. We are extending the extensive joint monitoring to Lagos.” But if the NNPC thought it made success of the Abuja crisis, it was terribly wrong because in the past one week, Abuja has experienced the worst case of scarcity in the past three years. Fuel consumers told Abuja Metro that it had been really long they had it this bad where many spend an entire day at the filling stations and at last shut out by the fuel station owners who have turned tyrant kings.

DPR clampdownWhile the agencies accuse marketers of hoarding the products, under dispensing and selling above the approved pump price, the marketers deny all these. They advise Nigerians to rather look into the activities of those agencies of government properly.
Last week, the DPR announced that it had sealed up over 57 filling stations within Abuja and environs for hoarding, under dispensing and selling of products above N97 per liter.

DPR Abuja Zonal Controller, Aliyu Halidu who made the disclosure in Abuja however admitted that there has been drastic reduction of loading at the Suleja Depot that supplies Abuja and its environs for certain logistic reasons.

Conflicting as it sounds however, the DPR chief in Abuja rather exonerated the agency of responsibility of determining the causes of the scarcity as he said only PPMC can explain since it has the sole responsibility to supply to depots.
He said only when the trucks depart depots with products that it becomes the duty of DPR to ensure that they get to the filling stations and that stations dispense them to the public at the approved measure and price.

PPPRA had earlier in the week warned against hoarding and selling the product above N97 per liter. The warning was handed down by the new ES of the agency as he insisted that the agency has never approved any pump price increase.

Marketers squeal 

But debunking the allegations that marketers are the cause of the scarcity, the IPMAN president said, “I totally disagree with the insinuations that marketers are the ones hoarding the products at the filling stations.”
According to him, “the real issue is in the high sea. Because to what extent can a marketer hoard the product in the filling station. In the high sea, we have 42 days sufficiency, so how can a marketer hoard.

“The situation we have today has to do with logistics. That is the operations at the jetties including the shore tanks because of the little problem we had one week ago, which was the contraction in supply. The contraction was as a result of the ship to ship transfer on the high sea.

“And I want to tell you that up to this moment, to the best of my knowledge, there are still delays in clearance of these ships from the high sea. And these delays leads to other issues that cause disruption in loading at various depots across the country.

Ministerial bravado

This is even as the Petroleum Minister Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has also warned erring fuel stations against hoarding products. She was reported to have directed all agencies to compile list of defaulting fuel outlets for sanction.

The minister was quoted in press statement in Abuja during the weekend after inspecting depots in Lagos that the Federal Government will apply full sanctions against any oil marketer or petroleum product dealer found culpable in the hoarding or diversion of petroleum products.

According to the NNPC manager, Public Affairs, Dr. Omar Farouk, the minister noted that findings indicate that the challenge may not be that of lack of petroleum product but the case of wilful diversion of products by some truck drivers.

The minister however, assured Nigerians that there were enough products in strategic reserves to meet demands for petroleum products. She noted that the Federal Government had no plan to increase the price of PMS for now.

But as the controversy rages coupled with the longer queues at the filling stations in Abuja and environs, residents continue to embark on the search for fuel.

With all the blames, bravado, ultimatum and many other tricks between the parties that make fuel available in the  open market, Abuja has not seen any drop in addition. It has rather been drying up every passing day with more gruelling agony. So, Abuja Metro joins other Abuja residents to ask when do we get fuel here?