After a gap of roughly a month, gasoline shortages returned on Tuesday, September 06, 2022, in the Federal Capital Territory and its surroundings as drivers and other PMS users speculated about the impending end of fuel lines in Abuja.
Due to the warning strike called by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria‘s Suleja Depot Branch, there was a shortage of gasoline on Tuesday and long lines as a result.
Monday marked the start of the three-day warning strike by the oil marketers, who prevented their members from transporting gasoline from the depot to more than five northern states, including Abuja. This led to shortages on Tuesday.
Conoil and Total, two frequently busy gas stations next to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited‘s corporate office, closed their doors to patrons on Tuesday.
The cause was a lack of inventory for them to distribute. However, black marketers took advantage of the chance to entice drivers with higher prices for their commodities by setting up shop in front of the gas stations and across from the NNPC headquarters.
When approached, government representatives remained silent about the circumstance.
For instance, when contacted by phone, Kimchi Apollo, the spokeswoman for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, did not pick up. He also didn’t respond to a text message that was sent to him regarding the issue.
Members of the union went on strike on Monday in opposition to the Federal Government’s ongoing obligation to oil marketers for the payment of gasoline transportation costs, also known as bridging claims.
Yahaya Alhassan, the chairman of the IPMAN Suleja Depot Branch, claimed that because the union had halted trucks from transporting PMS to the northern states, marketers had ceased supplying goods from the depot.
He claimed that marketers were ceasing their services unless the Federal Government paid their N50.5 billion in unpaid bridging claims.
He stated that if the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority does not send the money, the three-day warning strike will continue.
“If they (NMDPRA) fail to pay us at the end of the warning strike on Wednesday, the cessation of supply would continue indefinitely,” Alhassan said, adding that all of the association’s requests for the authority to settle the debt had been ignored.
Similar to this occurrence, the National Executive Committee of IPMAN announced on Tuesday that it had been made aware of a number of unjustified attacks against members carrying petroleum goods at both NNPC and private depots.
