In spite of the assurance by the government and various officials that the current fuel crises will soon come to a halt, Nigerians are still yet to witness succor as the quest for fuel across Nigerian filling stations worsens.
Citizens are forced to spend hours at the filling station before they can get the product while some go on to spend the night.
However, many filling stations across the country have had to increase the price of petrol which is meant to sell at normal price of 145 Naira per litre to as high as 200 to 250 Naira per litre.
However, for filling stations that sell it at the normal price of 145 Naira per litre, the queues are endless and unbearable.
Meanwhile, Some filling station remain closed as they refuse to dispense product.
Prices of transport fare have also increased as a result of this from their normal rates to as high as 200 percent more.
Some people have to leave their cars home to board the public transport as they could not fuel their cars.
The long queues in filling stations most especially in Lagos state have continued to grow leaving people with no choice but to spend the night at the filling station.
As reported by Premium Times, a Lagos resident lamented about how she waited for hours at Obalende Bus terminus before getting a bus going to Ajah.
She said, “On a normal day, Obalende to Ajah is just N250. But, the fare has now doubled N500. When you question the drivers, the response is that a litre of fuel is sold for N200.”
This crises has also given birth to black market sellers who sell petrol across the road in plastic containers. They are believed to sell at the rate of 280-300 Naira per litre.
Israel Bulus, a taxi driver who spoke to Premium Times , said this is the worst scarcity he has experienced in Kaduna in the last five years.
“You cannot get fuel even at the black market prices. I can tell you with authority that not more than 10 filling stations are selling fuel in the state capital,” he said.
The ruling party, APC has reacted to this current fuel crises and in a tweet on Friday, they stated that
“There’s no ‘actual scarcity’”
They blamed the fuel marketers and Panic buyers who are scared of a lingering scarcity because of the Yuletide season.
However, its opposition party PDP has also reacted to the crises and they blame the President who also happens to be the Minister for petroleum for the crises.
The Ekiti state governor also reacting to this says that the Federal government is behind it as the fuel crises is a plight orchestrated by the Federal government to increase the price of petrol from 145 Naira per litre to 200 Naira per litre.