Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
Oil marketers have said that many depots have stopped loading fuel as a result of the uneasiness caused by the collation of the February 25 presidential election results across the country, which the APC candidate, Bola Tinubu eventually won.
Valuechain findings showed that while the filling stations operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Major Oil Marketers sold fuel at the price of between N194 and N200 per litre, other fuel stations operated by independent oil marketers sold at N250 and 340 per litre.
This comes in spite of the Federal Government’s insistence that there was no approval for the increase in fuel pump price and its demand that fuel should not be sold above the approved price.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had recently stated that the president had not directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) or any other agency to increase the price of fuel. According to him, “this is not the time for any increase in pump price of petrol.”
The independent oil marketers who sell fuel higher than NNPCL and major oil marketers attributed the cause of their action to the claim that many depots had stopped loading fuel due to the uneasiness caused by the aftermath of the general elections.
