Barely 48 hours after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited announced that it had enough fuel stock for consumption across the country until March 2023, Nairametrics gathered that some Abuja residents are stocking up on the commodity ahead of this weekend’s presidential election.
As you may well know, Nigerians are heading to the polls on Saturday, February 25, to elect the next President and Vice President as well as members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
In the meantime, a survey conducted in Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday showed that some Nigerians have resolved to buy as much fuel as they can for election week.
Fuel is available: Fuel is no longer scarce in Abuja. Many filling stations are selling the commodity and there are no more queues. However, some Nigerians have expressed fear that the queues might return as the election date draws close.
The Nyanya-Mararaba area dominates when it comes to the number of residents in Abuja. So, there are always queues at filling stations located around the area. However, as of Wednesday morning, there were no queues in sight.
Earlier this week, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Limited Garba Deen Muhammad said that the company has a total of 1.805 billion litres of fuel stock. This represents 805.35 million litres in all the land depots nationwide and 1,000.20 million litres on marine vessels, which is equivalent to 30.09 days sufficiency.
NNPCL also said that an additional fuel supply of 884 million litres is expected in the country by 28th February 2023. For March 2023, a total of 2.3 billion litres of fuel is expected in the country, while about 2.5 billion litres, (equivalent to 42 days of sufficiency) will be the closing stock for the month under review.
Residents still stocking up on fuel: According to Mr Paul Oshomah, a regular buyer at the NNPC filling station along the Nyanya-Karu expressway, many Nigerians are making these purchases to prepare themselves for any outcome following the elections which will hold on Saturday. He said:
- “You know how this country is. Anything can happen at any time. We are buying fuel for our generators, so we can always follow up on the news even if the power supply is not available. We are also filling up our car tanks, so we can be mobile during and after the elections. It is better to have a full tank during this period than the alternative.”
Mrs Grace Airenbuwa, a regular customer at Shema Petroleum along the Nyanya-Karu expressway, told Nairametrics that she would be more comfortable knowing that her car has a full tank during the election week, so she can use her car if any sort of post-election violence occurs. She said:
- “We are not praying for it but from my experience during the 2011 elections, I am wiser now. My family and I will be voting during the election. However, if there is a need for us to go on a road trip after the elections, we will have sufficient fuel to do that.”
When asked if he was not aware of the fuel sufficiency announcement by NNPCL, commercial transporter, Danladi I. told Nairametrics that his decision to stock up on fuel had nothing to do with the fear of supply. He said:
- “I saw the announcement. But I’m not afraid of the lack of supply. This is normal for me. I always fill my tank and even buy extra before elections. I might need to carry out special duties on Saturday. Some people might also need to buy fuel during or after the election, while stations are closed. It’s an opportunity for me to make extra money, that’s why I’m buying some extra fuel.”
Payments are made by POS: Nairametrics also gathered that many of the customers at certain filling stations who did not have cash, paid for fuel via point-of-sale (POS) devices available at the stations. Akinwale, a private driver told Nairametrics that he bought fuel on Tuesday evening from Total filling station in the Wuse district using POS as his boss has no access to cash.
According to Jim, more Nigerians are getting used to not carrying cash around and even small business owners have adopted POS devices for use.
What you should know: Last week, 731 fuel trucks were sent to Abuja for fuel distribution, according to data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
