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Fuel Scarcity Looms as Tanker Drivers Halt Loading

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Lagos and many other parts of Nigeria are now facing a possible fuel shortage as tanker drivers have halted loading fuel.

The action by the drivers is in protest of alleged harassment by officials of the Lagos State Government and the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

The situation is already causing panic among residents and businesses, with long queues beginning to form at some petrol stations.

Telecommunications companies have also raised an alarm about a possible network blackout. According to the Telcos, the ongoing strike by tanker drivers could disrupt the supply of diesel, which is essential for powering telecom towers.

According to reports, tanker drivers were unable to load fuel on both Saturday and Sunday.

The National President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Yusuf Othman, has accused the Lagos State Task Force and officials from the Federal Ministry of Transportation of harassing their members.

“The problem we have now is that the task force in Lagos State is towing our trucks and beating our drivers. They even damaged one of our union’s vehicles. Because of this, there was no fuel loading on Saturday and Sunday,” Othman said.

He further expressed uncertainty about whether fuel loading would resume on Monday. “I cannot say for sure if there will be any loading tomorrow (Monday). Everything depends on how the government handles the situation,” he added.

Othman also pointed out that this strike was not related to the recent ban on 60,000 trucks, but rather a separate issue involving the Lagos State Government and the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

In response to the protest, the Lagos State Government insisted that it was only enforcing its e-call-up system.

The system, introduced in September 2024, is a digital platform designed to manage the movement of trucks, especially in the Lekki-Epe corridor. The aim is to reduce traffic congestion and prevent the kind of gridlock previously seen in Apapa.

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Days after death of over 90 in Niger, Youth Scoop Fuel From Faulty Petrol Tanker

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Some youths in Jalingo, the capital city of Taraba State have resorted to scooping fuel from a faulty tanker despite the possible calamity such action poses.

The action by the youths comes barely days after a tanker explosion killed almost 100 people in Niger state.

Eyewitnesses on Wednesday said the youths were busy scooping fuel when some security agencies arrived at the location of the faulty petrol tanker.

Officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Nigeria Police Force managed to chase the youths who gathered at the location at Mile 6, Jalingo where the tanker was said to have crashed and spilt some of its content.

Petty traders and shop owners in the area were seen locking their shops and closing for the day for fear of possible explosion.

Reacting to the incident and the action by the youths, the Taraba State command’s spokesperson for the NSCDC, Illia Samuel said that the driver of the tanker sustained some injuries following the crash of his vehicle.

Stating that the driver has been taken to a medical facility for immediate attention, Samuel also urged residents to stay away from the scene of the crash.

He said, “Immediately we got information about the accident, the command drafted our men to the scene to avert any occurrences that could lead to casualties.

“We are going to ensure that the area is safe, both for residents and travellers,” Samuel said.

The incident was also confirmed by the spokesperson for the police in the state, Superintendent of Police Abdullahi Usman.

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Hardship: Daily Petrol Consumption Crashes by 92% Under Tinubu — Report

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Daily consumption of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol in Nigeria has dropped drastically under one year after President Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023.

Data obtained by Channels Television from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Product Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Daily Truck Out Report, showed that consumption as of August 20, 2024, was 4.5 million litres per day.

The daily petrol consumption as of May 2023 was 60, 000 million litres per day, according to the NMDPRA.

An estimation brings daily consumption down by 92 per cent after May 29, 2023.

Analysis of the report, shockingly, revealed that out of the 36 states of the federation, only 16 states got product allocation from the Nigeran National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in the month under review.

A breakdown of how NNNPCL distributed the products among the 16 states, showed that Niger got the highest allocation of 21 trucks, amounting to 940, 000 litres daily, Lagos got the second highest of 12 trucks amounting to 726, 001 litres, and Kaduna got 12 trucks of 454, 001 litres.

Other states such as Oyo got 12 trucks of 454 litres, Kano 9 trucks, Ondo 6 trucks, Kwara 6 trucks, Edo 4 trucks, and FCT 4 trucks.

The likes of Sokoto state received 4 trucks from the NNPCL, Ogun state got three trucks, Osun three, Gombe one, Benue one, Ekiti one and Kebbi, one truck.

President Tinubu on May 29, 2023, declared an end to petrol subsidies, which at that time had gulped about N12tn in 10 years.

According to the president, payment of petrol subsidies was no longer sustainable as it had plunged the country into huge debts.

Petrol price has since skyrocketed from N195 per litre to about N1300 per litre, pushing up headline inflation to an almost three-decade high of 34.19 per cent in June. It has since slowed to 32.7 per cent in September.

The cost of living has also risen, plunging 129 million Nigerians into poverty, according to the latest data by the World Bank.

According to the global financial body, the over 129 million Nigerians represented a sharp rise from 40.1 per cent in 2018 to 56 per cent in 2024.

The World Bank report read, “With growth proving too slow to outpace inflation, poverty has risen sharply. Since 2018, the share of Nigerians living below the national poverty line16 is estimated to have risen sharply from 40.1 per cent to 56.0 per cent.

“Combined with population growth, this means that some 129 million Nigerians are living in poverty. This stark increase partly reflects Nigeria’s beleaguered growth record. Real GDP per capita has not recovered to the level it was at prior to the oil price-induced recession in 2016.

“The COVID-19 pandemic compounded this drop in economic activity. Moreover, growth is failing to outpace inflation: large increases in prices across almost all goods have diminished purchasing power.”

It added, “Multiple shocks in a context of high economic insecurity have deepened and broadened poverty, with over 115 million Nigerians estimated to have been poor in 2023. Since 2018/19, an additional nearly 35 million people have fallen into poverty, so that more than half of Nigerians (51.1 per cent of the population in 2023) are now estimated to live in poverty.”

A related report by a foreign news medium, AFP, also detailed how Nigerians have since abandoned their cars as a result of the pounding hardship.

“I parked it at my son’s house. I use public transport now,” Emmanuel, a 72-year-old retired health worker, told AFP. “It is not convenient, but it is what the economy demands.”

Car dealers in Lagos and Abuja told AFP that they had seen more and more people trading their fuel-guzzling cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for more efficient vehicles to cut costs.

“People are actually selling their big cars these days,” Maji Abubakar, a car dealer in Abuja, told AFP. “The problem is that even if you put them on the market, there isn’t much demand for them.”

“It has been more than a year since I sold a car with an eight-cylinder engine, and the major reason is the price of petrol,” he added.

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Fuel scarcity looms as depots raise petrol price to N720/litre

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Fuel scarcity is gradually surfacing in Lagos and other parts of the country as private depot owners have hiked the ex-depot price of petrol from N630 to N720 per litre.

Fuel stations in Lagos, Ogun and some other states have run out of stock as they refused to buy high-priced fuel from the private depots while those with the product are dispensing PMS as high as N900/litre.

In an interview with Punch, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, said many filling stations did not open for business because they had no fuel in their tanks. He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which is the sole importer of petrol at the moment, should explain to Nigerians what was happening with the product.

“Those that shut their stations do not have fuel to sell. When you don’t have fuel, you cannot open your station. That is the problem. You know the NNPC is the sole importer of this product. I think it is in the best position to tell us what is actually going on.

Currently, independent marketers cannot buy what the private depots are selling. They are selling fuel between N715 and N720 per litre. How much will marketers sell the product? Look at the cost of bringing it to their depots; with transportation and other depot expenses, it will be too costly for them. That is why the stations are shut down. Some marketers refuse to go and buy because they know the masses cannot afford high-priced petrol in this economy. That is the situation for now,” the IPMAN leader stated.

Third parties who are private depot owners used to sell PMS to independent marketers at the rate of N630-650/litre before now, while the NNPC sells petrol to major marketers at a price below or around N600.

On many occasions, leaders of IPMAN have appealed to the NNPC to supply them with petrol directly like they do to major marketers, but the NNPC has yet to yield to that call.

Fashola appealed to Nigerians to avoid panic buying, saying they should buy what they need so that the fuel in circulation could go round. It was gathered that the major marketers sold petrol below N650 while the independent marketers sold between N750/litre and N800 /litre.

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BREAKING: Fuel Price hits 625 per litre in FCT, as queues resurface

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

The price of petrol has increased to about N625 per litre, LEADING REPORTERS has authoritatively confirm.

A visit by LEADING REPORTERS to Rainoil filling stations along the in Abuja confirmed that the price has now been adjusted from N617 to N625per litre.

A 3kg cylinder of gas has increased from 1500 to 3500 with more increase imminent by December.

While Nigerians currently groan under the biting economic hardship there is no gain saying that harder times awaits them.

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