The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Monday appealed to motorists in Lagos State not to embark on panic buying of petrol because it had increased the fuel-laden trucks supplying fuel to the city/state by 50 trucks
Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the Corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, told the the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the queues at filling stations would soon vanish with the new development.
He said that the members of the public should not indulge in storing petrol in their homes because additional 50 trucks of petrol had been released to Lagos.
“About 250 trucks have begun to discharge petrol to Lagos compared to less than 200 trucks allocated to Lagos at the weekend.
“Motorists are advised to avoid hoarding and panic buying of petrol as the NNPC has sufficient product in stock that will last several days,” he said.
Ughamadu attributed the sudden scarcity of petrol being experienced to a slight change in the distribution network in Lagos.
According to him, Lagos is currently being supplied by members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN).
The NNPC spokesperson also acknowledged that there was a slight hitch at the Port Harcourt Refinery which he said was caused by power problem.
“The Port Harcourt Refinery is slightly down for now, pending when the problem will be rectified,” he said.
Meanwhile, NAN reports that hawkers had begun to capitalise on the situation to sell petrol to the public at exorbitant prices.
The hawkers had been selling the commodity for between N200 and N300 per litre.
At Fadeyi on Ikorodu Road, a hawker sold a five-litre gallon of petrol for N1,500 instead of the official price of N725.
Also, commercial transport operators had increased their fares by about 50 per cent.
It was observed that a trip to Oshodi from Costain now goes for N150 from its former N100 while Oshodi to Sango Ota in Ogun attracts N300 as against the former N200.
