Oil marketers stated on Thursday that the reason behind the long queues at petrol filling stations in Abuja and neighboring Nasarawa and Niger States is the insufficient supply of Premium Motor Spirit by the NNPCL.
The NNPCL however, denied the claims, attributing the queues in the affected areas, particularly Abuja, to “price war”.
There have been long queues in recent weeks for petrol at filling stations in Abuja and its neighboring states in particular, as well as some South-East and South-South states.
While speaking to the press, the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu said.
“The queues have continued because there is an insufficient supply of products.
If we have enough products, it will bring down these acts of profiteering among marketers.”
“It is when the products become very difficult to access that is when you start to see cases of profiteering.
But if everywhere is littered with products, you won’t experience what we are seeing now.
“In Port Harcourt, for instance, our tickets have been tied down.
For the past three weeks, we have not been able to load products, leading to queues at the few stations that have products.
But the government, which is actually represented in this business by NNPCL, keeps saying that it is expecting stock.”