In Osogbo, Osun State capital, the issue of fuel scarcity has reached a climax this Saturday as only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) mega station was selling fuel to motorists in a long queue.
Other petrol stations, owned by independent marketers have been closed and many people travelling outside Osogbo, for Christmas are stranded, with long queues of cars and people standing on roads waiting along the road in between fuel stations and their destinations.
The rates of petrol at NNPC is at N143 per litre but the queue was in two lines and streched to the dual carriageway causing a massive traffic gridlock.
Operators in the black market, have been making good profits as 10 litres can be sold for as high as N2,800.
Passengers, boarding commercial buses from Old Garage terminus to Lagos State, are paying N3,500 instead of the regular rate of N3,500. Commercial car drivers heading from Osogbo to Ibadan, charging N1,000 previously on Saturday people were paying as high as N2,000.