**As businesses ground in Abuja
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Fuel scarcity which reared its ugly head in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja four days ago has shown no signs of easing out as the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is yet to make any public pronouncement on the biting scarcity.
Prompt News reports that most filling stations visited in FCT Monday morning are still under lock and keys while the few still have the product have continued to witness long queues that have snaked into the streets and major roads.
Most of the filling stations in Abuja including the NNPCL mega stations in the Central Business District (CBD) and its retail outlets in Village Games and Kabusa Village areas in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) are stil not dispensing petrol yet as the time of filing this report.
Other Area Councils including Bwari, Kuje and Abaji are not immune to the scarcity as residents are now trekking long distances to their destinations while those who could afford it paid the exorbitant transport costs to get to where they are going.
Although oil marketers had last week blamed the fuel scarcity in Abuja and neighbouring cities of Suleja, Minna, Lafia on rainfall and flooded roads, NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Engr Mele Kyari and Spokesman of the corporation Chief Olufemi Soneye have kept mute over the excruciating fuel scarcity in the country’s seat of government.
Also, the Major Energy Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) blamed the situation on supply chain disruption.
Meanwhile, a member of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and filling station owner. Mallam Usman Kakanda said in a radio programme monitored in Abuja on Monday that the scarcity is caused by the increase of petrol prices by Petroleum Depot Owners. READ ALSO:
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According to Kakanda, Depot Owners have jerked up the prices of petrol in the depots as they are now hiked prices to over N680 per litre ex-Depot Price, a situation which has made IPMAN members to halt lifting of fuel and its attendant scarcity and long queues across Abuja.
