Commuters Groan as Fuel Scarcity Returns to Lagos

Commuters in Lagos State have expressed concern about the region’s impending fuel crisis. Not only is it difficult for motorists to obtain fuel, but transportation fares have also risen as a result of the scarcity of fuel.

The scarcity of fuel first appeared in October, when it hit various parts of Nigeria, forcing motorists to spend hours at filling stations battling for the product.

Black marketers charged between N300 and N400 per litre of gasoline in many regions of the nation. 

However, since Monday, commuters have bemoaned the rise in transportation costs in the state, with gasoline costing between N195 and N200 per litre.

As of Wednesday, many gas stations either didn’t sell fuel or did so at exorbitant prices. 

Investors King learned that some drivers were unable to fill up their vehicles from commuters at Agege. One of the commuters claimed that the inability to purchase fuel prevented him from taking his car outside. In a similar vein, the driver stated that he would park his car somewhere and board a commercial vehicle to travel to Lagos Island.

“As it stands, I’m going to park somewhere after I get the passengers out of the car so my friend can help me get fuel. Considering that I might spend up to three hours on the third mainland bridge, I cannot drive this vehicle to the island; it is not worth it. 

According to an online report, queues were reported along the Alausa Secretariat road, as the NNPC (former Oando) was closed to motorists. The same situation was also noticed at Total filling stations in Ojota and Palm Grove on Tuesday. 

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria blamed it on the depots and the increasing difficulty in accessing petroleum products.

National Controller, Operations, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, reportedly said that members of the association could not get sufficient products at the depots.

“No fuel. Even when we were able to get small quantity, DAPPMAN sold it to us at N200/N202 per litre. By the time we transport it to our stations, the cost would be around N210/litre,” he said.

He added that getting petrol to members’ filling stations from the depots now cost as much as N200 per litre in some instances.

If the Federal Government moved forward with implementing the new tax regime, the executive secretary of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, Olufemi Adewole, warned that the tax could force businesses to close their doors and exacerbate the scarcity crisis.

Adewole argued that petroleum marketing companies could not sustainably pay such a sum due to the inadequate trading margins of these companies.

Petroleum marketers have a very low operating margin, but their turnover is very high, according to Adewole. Regrettably, the margin does not reflect the turnover.

He revealed that marketers continued to receive the same margins when fuel prices increased to N160 and N200 from the margins they were receiving when a litre was sold for N40.

He stated, “The Finance Act 2020 states that the marketers must pay 0.5% of their gross turnover by the end of this year.

If the new tax regime is implemented, “it is unthinkable that probably half of the petroleum marketing firms existing now may go out of business,” he said, unless the regulator, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, approves a new margin for the marketers.