Yesterday, there were reports that fuel scarcity had resurfaced because marketers were unwilling to import fuel due to the devaluation and fear of further depreciation. Now the NNPC has come out swinging, explaining that the real reasons isn’t the naira but bad roads.
A Thisday article reports the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its downstream subsidiary, the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), last night blamed the sudden fuel queues experienced in filling stations in Lagos to the ongoing construction of Apapa road and its associated traffic gridlock.
PPMC has also said it has over 32 days ample stock of petroleum products available for supply across the nation during the yuletide and beyond, while additional vessels have arrived Lagos port.
The report also reveals that while some marketers blame the development on the devaluation of the naira, which has affected their capacity to raise foreign exchange for importation of products, others attributed the tightening supply to logistics problems experienced last week at the North Oil Jetty (NOJ) at Apapa, where imported cargoes of petroleum products berth.
So let’s all hope this is just a mild blip and that the fuel lines will disappear soon. The last thing we need now is a fuel induced bleak Xmas.
