‘Drastic Drop’ In Activities At Depots Responsible For Scarcity – NUPENG

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The Lagos Zonal Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Mr Tokunbo Korodo, on Monday attributed the return of fuel scarcity to the ‘drastic drop’ in the loading activities in the loading depot.

He noted that most of the depots have been loading well for the past one week adding that “some are even rationing”.

Speaking via a telephone on Sunrise Daily, Mr Korodo, said that when the depots run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are not loading well, “it gives room to the independent marketers we have at Apapa to be selling above the pump price

Mr Korodo said the unavailability of the Premium Motor Spirit is responsible for the rationing by depots across the country.

“The PPMC headquarters is supposed to pump to Ejigbo and also to Ibadan and other axis of Region 2B but they are not pumping because they don’t have enough stock.

“And if they don’t have enough stock, there depots will also be operating at a dormant capacity”, he added.

He further noted that only the PPMC can tell Nigerians what is responsible for the shortage of the product, adding that “with the way things are going, we need urgency to curtail this spread.”

“The problem is the marketers, dealers are now coming to Lagos to pick and they are ready to buy (the product) above the pump price”, he said.

No Need To Panic

The Pipelines and Products Marketing Company has asked the Nigerian populace to calm down as petroleum products will be available in the fuel stations soon.

The MD of PPMC, Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, said that about four vessels containing 30,000 tonnes of PMS arrived in the country on Sunday and the agency is doing all it can to ensure that the product is distributed efficiently.

Queues returned to the fuel stations in the last week and many motorists have been complaining about the seeming worsening situation in fuel supply.