By kawaekwune Jeffrey
Nigeria’s ongoing fuel crisis appears far from being over as the Federal Government faces a growing set of challenges, experts say.
The country’s ability to maintain a steady petrol supply is threatened by a mounting $6 billion debt owed to petrol suppliers, combined with severe liquidity issues and an escalating exchange rate.
According to analysts, with the naira’s value plummeting, the situation has worsened, leaving Nigeria struggling to import essential fuel products.
On Sunday, 1st September 2024, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) revealed that its members no longer have access to bulk petrol supplies, contributing to the continued fuel shortages that have plagued the country for over two months. IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, explained that their members have been forced to source petrol from private depots at inflated prices due to the lack of direct supplies from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
Although some reports indicate that some petrol shipments have started arriving at ports in Lagos, Warri, and Port Harcourt in late August 2024, IPMAN members maintain that they are yet to see any significant improvement in supply allocation. Ukadike stressed that resolving these distribution issues would help eliminate bottlenecks and reduce the profiteering that is driving up petrol prices at the pump.
The high cost of diesel, which is used to transport fuel, has exacerbated the situation.
This development has prompted Oil marketers ti call for a reduction in diesel prices, currently at N700 per litre, to improve petrol distribution across the country. The President of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA), Benneth Korie Doi, reiterated this point on 1st September 2024, emphasizing the need for competitive pricing in the downstream sector and urging NNPC to leverage its stake in Dangote’s refinery to lower diesel costs.
NNPC Limited while acknowledging the financial strain it is currently facing , with significant debts to petrol suppliers, in a statement issued on Sunday, 1st September 2024, argued that there should be reasonable understanding amongst Nigerians.
