Fuel scarcity, Tuesday resurfaced in Abuja, with long queues at almost all the petrol stations, as motorists faced slight difficulties in buying the commodity.
This was even as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, stated that it has stepped up efforts to maintain stability in the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.
The NNPC, in a statement signed by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, disclosed that it has enough stock of petrol to service the country for 25 days at a national consumption rate of 40 million litres per day even as it has stepped up product distribution to petroleum marketers and NNPC Retail outlets across the country.
While calling on members of the public to refrain from panic buying, the NNPC said it has sufficient stock of petrol at its coastal depots in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Calabar besides the stock it holds in the national strategic reserves.
Despite assurances by the NNPC, large number of motorists were seen at fuel stations in the metropolis, with some having to spend several hours before they could purchase the product.
Long queues of motorists were seen at the NNPC mega filling station along the Kubwa Expressway, spilling onto the major road, thereby, causing traffic.
Also, there were long queues of motorists in petrol stations across the Central Business District, why motorists have started to express panic about the recurrence of another scarcity.
One of the motorists expressed surprise over the return of the queue and called on the Federal Government to immediately take care of it before it escalates
What exactly is Buhari waiting for to deregulate the petroleum products market and stop the subsidy scheme so fuel can be available everywhere? Everyone told him this is one of the steps he has to take early in his tenure.
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