Long fuel queues have refused to disappear from major cities across the country despite assurance by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources,Dr Ibe Kachikwu to end the 10-day long fuel scarcity.
This is even as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) plans to embark on a strike today.
Kachikwu assured the National Economic Council (NEC) last Thursday that fuel shortage would end in 48 hours.
The NEC, which comprises governors and some ministers, is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
PENGASSAN said its members would go on strike after the failure of a truce between the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Neconde Energy Limited with its members.
A statement by the spokesperson of PENGASSAN, Fortune Obi, confirmed that the meeting ended in a stalemate.
PENGASSAN accused Neconde of anti-workers activities against its members.
However, investigations by our source, yesterday across the country show that the fuel scarcity is far from over.
In Abuja, long queues were seen by our reporters along Kubwa Expressway, Central Area and other parts of the Federal Capital Territory. Many filling stations in other parts of the city were not dispensing the product when our source checked, yesterday.
Our correspondent in Markudi, Benue State reports that motorists were worried over the continued scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) which had persisted in the state for over a week.
A respondent, Mr. Monday Adah, said that it was disheartening that despite the hike in price of PMS, the trend of obtaining the product by long queues at festive periods had not changed.
Adah noted that he queued for over four hours to fill his car tank at a filling station along Ankpa Road with black marketers giving between N500 and N1000 to petrol attendants in order to boycott queues and buy in big jerry cans.
Mrs Edward Joyce complained that the development would likely force her to cancel her planned trip to her village for the Christmas celebration by next week.
Several petrol stations including the NNPC Mega Station located along Makurdi-Otukpo Federal Highway, Rainoil, Bolek, and AP, had long queues of vehicles waiting to take their turns at the pumps.
In Jos, Plateau State, our correspondent, who went to some filling stations, gathered that the situation is just as bad.
A motorist, John Davou, who spoke to our correspondent at the NNPC Mega filling station by Secretariat Junction, said he had been on queue for over two hours and was yet to get fuel.
He said most stations were selling fuel at between N145-N150 per litre, but that the problem was the time spent on queue.
In Kano, our correspondent observed that although some filling stations got supply of the product on Friday, most of the stations refused to operate yesterday.
The few filling stations that operated include A.A. Rano at Hadejia Road/Eastern Bypass roundabout, NNPC Mega Station, Audu Manager along Maiduguri Road and Conoil on Murtala Muhammed Way.
A motorist, Muhammad Isah, who spoke to our correspondent, yesterday at Conoil filling station said he had spent three hours in the queue and could not fill his tank.
Many of the filling stations in Kaduna yesterday kept their premises shut with only a few selling fuel to intending buyers.
However, in Rivers State the fuel situation seems not to be too bad as there are supplies in many filling stations in Port Harcourt.
Checks carried out by our correspondent showed that many filling stations had fuel but sold between N160 and N170 per litre, in Port Harcourt and its environs.
A motorist, Cyprian Oko said, “There is availability of fuel in all the filling stations but we are worried about the hike in price of the product.”
There was no visible fuel scarcity in Lagos metropolis as at Saturday evening as majority of filling stations visited were dispensing fuel without queues.
Normalcy has since returned to Lagos a week ago after two days of scarcity.
Lagos zonal chairman of NUPENG, Alhaji Nujeemdeen Korodo had told our correspondent that his members had commenced 24-hours fuel loading to ease supplies in Lagos area and other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has accused the federal government of deliberately causing the current scarcity of fuel in the country to justify the planned increment of petrol pump price from N145 to N185 per litre.
The governor, also accused the federal government of insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians, and that “petrol is scarce across the country because the federal government deliberately reduced supply since it is only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that is importing the product.”
Governor Fayose’s Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, quoted him as saying in a release issued yesterday, that “allowing fuel scarcity to persist for over two weeks when Nigerians are preparing to celebrate Christmas and New Year is the height of wickedness on the part of the All Progressives Congress (APC) federal government.
“Funny enough, instead of directing its anger at President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Minister of Petroleum, on December 7, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) chose to give the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu seven days ultimatum to end the fuel scarcity. Today is December 17, exactly ten days after the misplaced ultimatum was given, the situation has even got worse.”
He said “by the time the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) goes on strike as threatened the whole country will be shut down and one wonders what will become of Nigerians that desire to move around during the festive season.”
Governor Fayose, who said it was necessary for the federal government to tell Nigerians the truth about the situation of fuel supply in the country, noted that it was the restriction of supply of petrol to NNPC alone that has put Nigerians into hardship.
He said, “It is only the NNPC that is bringing products in; and the result is the scarcity being experienced now. The thinking is that by the time the scarcity persists for like one month, with Nigerians already buying at N200 per litre, the people will jump at it if petrol is increased from N145 to N185 per litre.
In another development, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) is set to embark on indefinite strike beginning from today, following a stalemate in the peace meeting the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmanuel Kachikwu, brokered between the union and Neconde Energy Limited.
It would be recalled that both PENGASSAN and Neconde have been embroiled in crisis over allegation of anti-labour practices, including unlawful sacking of workers without adequate payment of their entitlements.
PENGASSAN, the umbrella body of senior workers in the oil and gas sector, alleged that the management of Neconde wrongly terminated the employment of some of its workers, and threatened to go on strike by December 18, 2017, if the sacked workers were not recalled within 72 hours.
The matter caused Kachikwu to initiate a meeting between the two warring bodies in Abuja, last week, but the meeting ended in a deadlock, last Friday.
In a release signed by PENGASSAN Public Relations Office, Fortune Obi, and made available to newsmen, last Friday, PENGASSAN said it would commence the proposed industrial action, today.
Obi said: “Following the failure of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, to settle the rift between this body (PENGASSAN) and Neconde, the management of PENGASSAN has agreed to start the strike on Monday night (December 18th, 2017).
“Prior to the strike, PENGASSAN will hold an emergency Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday morning, which will be followed with announcement of strike on the night of Monday.’’
The union said it has put its workers across the country on standby for the strike, adding that nothing whatsoever would stop the body from starting the strike by midnight, today.
PENGASSAN’s Lagos Zonal Chairman, Abel Agarin, had in a communiqué said it would not tolerate any act of victimization against any of its members.
He said the union’s position was that the termination of employment of some workers by Neconde was unlawful, as it was not in line with equity, good conscience and industrial relations best practices and extant labour laws.