Fuel scarcity lingers nationwide as black market operators sell for N1000/litre

Despite assurances from the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) would soon be addressed to ease suffering of Nigerians, the situation seems getting worse nationwide.

Particularly, Kaduna State residents groaned on Wednesday as black marketers sell the product for N1,000 per litre in parts of the state.

Motorists all over the country continue to queue for hours at petrol stations to buy the product.

In the capital city of Kaduna, the residents lamented that despite the assurance by the Federal Government to address the scarcity, the situation has continued to linger, even as they said they buy fuel at the black market at an expensive rate.

One of the residents, Abdulsalam Munir said he had been in the queue for over five hours, yet he could not buy petrol.

He, therefore, called on the Federal Government and state authorities to tackle the fuel scarcity for the overall good of Nigerians.

“I spent more than five hours following the line,” he lamented. “Since when I came, I haven’t gotten fuel and my car was on the line. “Up till now (in the afternoon), I haven’t bought fuel.

“Even when you go to the black market, we buy one litre for N1,000. So fuel is very scarce and we are calling on the government to put an end to this thing,” Munir said in an interview with Channels Television.

Just like Munir, a passenger, Buhari Sa’ad, bemoaned the increase in transportation fare as a result of the fuel scarcity.

Giving an instance, he said motorists usually charge N1,500 as a fare for Kaduna to Kano, but the fare has increased to N2,000 as a result of the current situation.

“We are calling on this government to please consider our people because it is not all of us that have the money. Most of the people cannot travel because of this fuel scarcity,” he said.