Some motorists in Abuja have decried the persistent fuel queues in the FCT in spite of the assurance by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, that fuel scarcity will end in the first week of April.
The motorists, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, said that the situation was taking a toll on them as they had to queue for several hours to get attended to.
A civil servant, Victor Peter expressed concern that the situation had led to loss of manpower.
He said “it has not been easy; I closed from Church for the past three hours and I have still not bought fuel.
“It is so terrible that some motorists resort to bribing their way into filling stations to get fuel.
“The amount one gives as bribe depends on the kind of car he or she is driving; if one has a small car, they charge N500, while those carrying big cars pay N1,000.”
Peter, however, appreciated Federal Government’s efforts to solve the problem and called on oil marketers and other stakeholders to work with government to tackle the issue.
A retiree, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, who said he queued for about four hours in one of the filling stations in Garki in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said the hardship had become unbearable.
Mohammed said that though trucks were dispensing in most filling stations, motorists still queue for hours to get fuel.
He attributed the long queues to inability of the stations to sell from all dispensers.
He urged operators of the various filling stations not to worsen the sufferings of Nigerians by hoarding fuel.
A business man, Alhaji Musa Ahmed, who queued in one of the filling stations in Central Business District in the FCT, said the situation was not abating as promised.
He called on the Federal Government to ensure adequate monitoring of filling stations, particularly in states where the pump price was above N87 per litre.
He said “what I went through from Auchi in Edo was terrible.
“Filling stations are selling a litre of petrol between N220 and N250; the only place I got fuel for N185 was Okene in Kogi.”
Meanwhile, NAN learnt from managers of some of the filling stations visited in the FCT that there was adequate supply of petroleum products.
They denied hoarding the fuel, as they attributed the persistent queue to the fact that some of their dispensers had broken down.
They equally denied collecting inducement from motorists to let them into the filling stations to buy the commodity.
The Manager of AA Rano Filling Station Katampe, Mr Sani Ayuba, assured that the queues would reduce drastically before the end of the week.
He said “there is fuel everywhere and trucks are coming in; even today, I received two trucks and I am expecting three more trucks.
“Hopefully, before the end of the week, the queues will end; we have about 30 trucks at the depot.
“Right now, we are selling from eight nozzles but with supply coming in from tomorrow, we will be able to sell from all the dispensers,’’ he said (NAN)