Petrol queues resurface in Abuja, other states

Most filling stations in Abuja and neighbouring states of Nasarawa and Niger that dispensed Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, on Sunday were greeted with long queues.

It was observed that many other outlets were shut as they claimed not to have products to dispense, a development that led to the crowding of the filling stations that dispensed the commodity.

Queues were seen at the Nipco filling station along the busy Zuba-Kubwa expressway in Abuja and at the Conoil and Total filling stations located opposite the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in the capital city.

In Zuba, Niger State, the few stations that dispensed products also had long queues formed by motorists. The same scenario played out in Mararaba, Nasarawa State.

The spokesperson of NNPC, Garba-Deen Mohammad, promised to revert with an explanation of what might have led to the resurfacing of queues in Abuja when he was contacted. He, however, did not.

But dealers told our correspondent that a number of factors could have warranted the queues, as they explained that petrol transporters had been calling for improved bridging claims due to the high cost of diesel.

This, it was gathered, had occasionally discouraged some tanker owners from lifting products to retail stations.

Also, they stated that the loading of products had been low, as this was partly due to the recent Sallah break and the limited number of trucks to transport products.

They, however, assured that the queues would clear in days, as efforts were on to handle the situation.

This came as NNPC announced on Sunday that it evacuated 537.75 million litres of petrol between April 25 and May 1, 2022, translating to an average daily evacuation of 76.82 million litres during the review week.