Another bout of fuel scarcity held Lagos by the jugular yesterday, as fuel queues reappeared across the city over the weekend. However, reports from Abuja said the queues which appeared last week have disappeared.

Filling stations from Awolowo Way in Ikoyi through Marina,to Iponri and Surulere had long queues. So too did stations along Western Avenue through Ikorodu road to Maryland, and onward to Ketu/ Mile 12 .The Ikeja and Ogba axis was not spared as motorists lined up along the road, waiting to fill their tanks. More than 30 stations monitored on Monday either had long queues or were not selling products at all. Some of the queues extended up to a kilometre from the pumps and contributed to traffic congestion on adjoining roads. Some commuters spent hours waiting for their turn as others kept joining the queue.

Some of the station managers who were not selling told NEXT they were waiting for the delivery of products, while others said they were rationing products just in case delivery does not come on time. But a petrol attendant at the Mobil filling Station Moloney, Onikan attributed the queues to panic-buying by people who suspect there will soon be an increase in fuel price. "There is no scarcity, nothing is wrong. People are just rushing to buy. It's just rumour. There is no scarcity," he said. That particular filling station, however, was one of those that was not selling petrol. The attendant denied hoarding fuel: "Our fuel has finished," he said.

NEXT investigations revealed that filling stations that were mainly affected in Lagos, are those owned by the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN). They include Total, Texaco, Mobil, ConOil, Oando, and African Petroleum (AP)

Hoarding of products

The Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), the NNPC subsidiary in charge of product marketing, said there was absolutely no basis for this scarcity because there is enough fuel in quantities that would last the nation a minimum of six weeks. Ralph Ugwu, PPMC spokesperson said; "As far as we're concerned, supply has not changed. Nothing has changed (from our end) to warrant any scarcity; we have maintained the same tempo of supply... we've continued to supply 30 million litres of petrol daily to the market. As a matter of fact, we have over 45 days sufficiency. If there is any problem, it's within the level of the marketers" Mr. Ugwu however stopped short of outrightly accusing the marketers of hoarding products despite. But Idowu Alonge, a structural engineer, could not hold back his tirade against both the PPMC and the marketers. "This should not be happening," he said. "It just shows you how corrupt and inefficient the system is."

The Department of Petroleum Resources, the industry regulator, also echoed the PPMC's statement. Paul Osu, its spokesperson said: "Given the dynamics there should be no scarcity whatsoever. From the information we have from the PPMC, there's enough product and there should be no reason for the queues." He attributed the scarcity to panic buying by customers. "I think what you're seeing is panic buying, that's why you have the queues. Anyway, our inspection team went out today to see what is going on, by tomorrow we'll be able to advise on the situation."

Marketers react

But the executive secretary of the marketers' association, Thomas Olawore, said the problem was not entirely the marketers' fault. According to him: "The true situation is that as at (last) weekend, there was little or no product. By (last) Friday, the stock was very low. Most marketers were just receiving products from vessels, that is what happened. It is today (Monday) we started servicing (our stations). There's product now... Nobody should entertain any fears. There's no hoarding of products. So that is the situation."

Scarcity takes toll

Economic activity in the nation's commercial hub is been hit by the scarcity as consumers spend many productive hours on the queues jostling to buy fuel for their vehicles and power generating sets.

There was a similar situation on November 1, as long queues appeared across the nation due to speculations that the Federal Government's planned full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector would commence on the said date. This is the fourth scarcity Lagos has experienced so far this year.

Industry watchers believe the scarcity is deliberate, as the Federal Government, with the support of the marketers want to enforce the deregulation policy, which should have taken off on November 1. The implementation was suspended not only because of the labour unions' total rejection of the policy until some palliatives were put in place to cushion the effects of a market-based downstream petroleum market, but also because of the FIFA Under 17 World Cup tournament, which ended in Nigeria on Sunday.

Some marketers who spoke under conditions of anonymity told NEXT that the : "Government was told it was a bad idea to introduce deregulation when we are planning to host the world, and it was anticipated that before the world cup ended, government and labour would have reached an agreement on the deregulation and the policy will take off as soon as the world cup ended. This is why the queues started from Sunday, when the under 17 tournament ended."