Business
Kerosene Scarcity Hits Lagos
LAGOS residents woke up last Tuesday morning to witness another round of kerosene scarcity.
Filling station operators, who are known to always cash in on scarcity of petroleum products to increase their profit, were seen dispensing kerosene to higher bidder, thereby contributing to the unending queues of jerrycans.
The product which is supposed to be selling for N50 per litre officially is being sold at N120 at AP filling station, Ijanikin, Lagos while it was reported to be selling at N115 at Total and Murky filling Stations respectively.
The retailers are selling it at N120 per bottle.
Lagos residents who had thought that the government would intervene quickly and normalize the situation feel disappointed as women and children slept at the filling stations daily.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Director Public Relations NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma has said NNPC is not responsible for the artificial kerosene scarcity.
Effort to get the Secretary-General of NUPENG’s position was unsuccessful as our correspondent could not get him on phone as at the time of filing this report.
It could be recalled that the former minister of state for finance Mr. Remi Babalola, gave an indication that the Federal Government would soon remove the subsidy on the product. His argument was that the official price of N 50 is no longer realistic since the low income earners that are supposed to enjoy the subsidy hardly get the commodity to buy at that price.
Meanwhile, tanker drivers who spoke with our correspondent are also demanding the repairs of access roads to the depots and a stop to security operatives’ exploits, most especially LASTMA.