Worry as long queues return to Abuja filling stations, five other states - Newstrends
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Worry as long queues return to Abuja filling stations, five other states

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2 years ago

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Worry as long queues return to Abuja filling stations, five other states

Many filling stations in Abuja and roughly five other states were closed on Wednesday due to a scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as fuel, which generated long queues at the few outlets that dispensed the commodity.

Thousands of commuters in the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Niger, Gombe, Sokoto, and Anambra states were delayed at several bus stations due to a lack of PMS necessary by transporters to operate their vehicles.

This resulted in an increase in transportation fares in the affected states, as the few transporters with petrol upped their rates.

According to reports, the scarcity was caused by a shortfall of PMS in the nation’s capital and other states, which resulted in the closure of filling stations in the impacted areas.

However, oil marketers claimed that they would meet with the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s retail arm today (Thursday) to determine the reason of the shortage and how to address it.

Hundreds of motorists besieged the Conoil and Total filling stations that sold petrol in front of the corporate headquarters of NNPC in Abuja on Wednesday.

This led to vehicular traffic on the roads leading to NNPC headquarters and other surrounding companies in the Central Business District of Abuja.

Several filling stations in Zuba, Niger State, including NNPC, AYM Shafa, among others, were closed on Wednesday for lack of petrol to dispense.

Similarly, the NNPC outlet on Arab Road, Kubwa, Abuja, had no product to sell. Many other outlets along the Kubwa-Zuba expressway were also shut. In Nyanya, Nasarawa State, many filling stations were closed.

Their inability to operate piled pressure on the few stations that had PMS on Wednesday, leading to massive queues by motorists at these outlets.

Oil marketers, however, stated that the reason for the shortage in the supply of PMS to Abuja and neighbouring states was being investigated, adding that a meeting would be held on the matter today (Thursday).

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“It is obvious that there is supply shortage in Abuja and other states that are close to the FCT (Federal Capital Territory),” the National Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief John Kekeocha, told our correspondent.

He added, “This is the reason why many filling stations in these areas are not selling PMS, which, of course, has led to the serious queues you see in the few ones that are dispensing the product. I cannot tell you the reason for this supply shortage now.

“But we are meeting with NNPC Regal tomorrow (Thursday), and this is going to form part of our discussions. The matter is being looked into right now, and we hope to find a solution to it during the meeting.”

Earlier, the National President, IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, told our correspondent that the queues for petrol in many states would be a thing of the past when the Dangote Petroleum Refinery starts pumping out PMS to the domestic market.

But when asked whether the refinery had briefed marketers about when it would start pumping out the product, Maigandi replied, “We don’t know the time. But since he said he would start it, I know that he will do that.

“So we are still waiting and we know that once he starts releasing petrol to the domestic market, this issue of fuel scarcity and queues will become a thing of the past.”

His position was corroborated by the IPMAN National Public Relations Officer, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, who also expressed hope that the Port Harcourt Refining Company would start producing refined petroleum products very soon.

Commuters stranded

Thousands of commuters going to their various destinations were stranded at different motor parks in Anambra State on Wednesday due to the unavailability of transportation vehicles because of the shutting down of petrol stations across the state.

Most petrol stations in the major cities of Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Umunze, Ekwulobia and other environs remained shut and were not dispensing fuel on Wednesday morning.

As a result of this, the few vehicles plying the road increased the transportation fares by over 200 per cent while commuters who struggled to board them were made to pay the high rates.

For instance, commercial transporters charged N500 for a journey that used to be N200, while a journey of N500 was charged between N1,200 to N1,500.

The development caused many commuters to start trekking to their various destinations while others waited at the parks.

Our correspondent also observed that many offices and business premises did not open till around 10:30 am because their employees had yet to report for duty.

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The reason why the petrol stations were closed could not be ascertained immediately. But the development generated a lot of mixed feelings among the public.

Some people believed that the petrol stations were on strike, others were of the opinion that it was a deliberate attempt by the marketers to increase the pump price of the commodity.

A tricycle operator plying the Onitsha axis, simply identified as Tochukwu, said, “I bought fuel from the black market for as high as N1,350/litre this morning in order to work, after we discovered that filling stations did not open. Some of my colleagues went to Asaba in Delta State to get the product and that is why transportation fares are high this morning.

“We don’t really know why the filling stations are shut, but we are hearing that is like they are in a meeting somewhere in Awka. We have experienced this kind of situation before and when they came back from their meeting that day, they hiked the pump price of petrol. It’s likely to be the same situation, we are watching as events unfold.”

A commuter at Awka, Chinwe Okeke, said, “I have been standing at the Regina Caelis Bus Stop for over two hours waiting to board a vehicle to UNIZIK, but it has been difficult. The vehicles that are coming have been charging very exorbitantly, I don’t know what is really happening.”

When contacted on the development, the Anambra State Commissioner for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Anthony Ifeanya, said, “There is no cause for alarm and commuters and motorists should not panic.

“It’s likely that the petrol marketers are in a meeting and whenever they are having such meeting, shutting of petrol stations is a way of compelling every member to attend the meeting. Their meeting usually starts from morning till noon.”

It was also observed that the sudden fare hike also affected both interstate and intrastate movements.

Lagos queues

One of our correspondents observed that the NNPC filling station along Cele expressway in Lagos had long queues on Wednesday due to the fact that the pump price was selling at a lower rate of N585/litre when compared to other filling stations.

But the AP filling station located at Barracks along Chemist Bus Stop in Lagos was not selling petrol.

However, there were no queues at Jezco filling station at Oja-Oba, along Pako Bus Stop in Lagos because the station was selling at N650/litre.

The Northwest filling station along the Gbagada expressway had long queues as the pump price at this station was N610/litre.

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Heavy queues were seen at the NNPC filling station along the Ogudu expressway with the station selling at N585/litre.

N710/litre in Ogun

Residents of Abeokuta, Ogun State capital now buy a litre of petrol for between N650 and N710/litre.

One of our correspondents observed that while many of the filling stations were not selling fuel on Wednesday, the few independent filling stations that were attending to customers sold the product at between N660 to N710/litre.

However, the NNPC mega station along Abiola Way dispensed a litre for N580 but the queues here were very long.

Eternal Oil along Kobape road with a fairly large crowd sold petrol for N660/litre while others such as KH filling station, Adigbe, among others, sold theirs at N700/litre and above.

Scarcity hits Gombe

Fuel scarcity has hit most filling stations in the Gombe State metropolis.

Some motorists told our correspondent in the state that they suspected sabotage, as fuel was sold for between N760 to N800/litre depending on the station. The worst hit areas are the hinterlands.

Bako Hussain, a motorist, said, “We know that it is a sort of plan work by the filling stations. How can one open today and tomorrow the next one will open and the one that sold yesterday will not open.”

Also speaking, Hajara Bala, said “It is hard to get fuel in the state as the queues are building across filling stations. I think it’s artificial scarcity. I see no reason why we will have money and still wait with your N760 or more depending on the station.”

Motorists in Sokoto State also decried the continued rise in the price of petrol as the product rose to N830/litre on Wednesday.

Findings by our correspondent in Sokoto on Wednesday evening showed that most of the filling stations that opened for business in the morning had closed their outlets before 4 pm, making the product more scarce for consumers.

Almost all the big marketers including NNPC, AA Rano, Shafa, among others, were not dispensing the product on Wednesday evening.

The few filling stations that dispensed the product on Wednesday evening sold it at between N800 and N830/litre and still had long queues.

A motorist, Abdul Ahmad, who spoke to our correspondent, said, “How do you explain a filling station which sells fuel at the rate of N770/litre in the morning, only for you to come back in the afternoon and same people now sell at N820/litre.

“This is very bad and we should stop doing this to ourselves in this country.”

NNPC stays mute.

Meanwhile, efforts to get the NNPC to explain reasons for the queues and the fuel supply shortage in states were unsuccessful.

NNPC is currently the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria, as other marketers stopped importing the commodity due to their inability to access adequate foreign exchange required for PMS importation.

NNPC’s spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, did not answer calls to his phone when contacted on the matter.

He also did not respond to a text message sent to him to provide reasons for the queues, up till when this report was filed.

Worry as long queues return to Abuja filling stations, five other states

(Punch)

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NBS: Nigeria’s Inflation Slips to 15.39% in August

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9 hours ago

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September 15, 2026

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NBS: Nigeria’s Inflation Slips to 15.39% in August

Nigeria’s inflation rate eased to 15.39 per cent in August 2026 as the pace of price increases slowed across the economy, the National Bureau of Statistics has reported.

The latest Consumer Price Index report shows a modest fall from the 15.43 per cent recorded in July.

A sharper improvement was recorded in monthly inflation. The rate dropped from 1.57 per cent in July to 0.71 per cent in August, meaning prices continued to rise but at a much slower pace.

Food inflation also slowed significantly.

The NBS put year-on-year food inflation at 19.57 per cent in August. This was below the 25.30 per cent recorded a year earlier. Monthly food inflation also fell sharply, moving from 5.56 per cent in July to 1.02 per cent in August.

The statistics agency attributed the monthly decline to lower average prices for a range of food products, including palm oil, pepper, onions, cassava flour, beef, yam flour, egusi, ginger, fresh fish, Irish potatoes, chicken and turkey.

The improvement, however, was not shared equally across the country.

Adamawa had the highest annual food inflation rate at 38.85 per cent. Zamfara followed with 37.96 per cent, while Bayelsa recorded 36.20 per cent.

At the other end, Borno recorded negative annual food inflation of -4.04 per cent. Jigawa recorded -0.23 per cent, while Kebbi stood at 3.47 per cent.

For monthly food inflation, Katsina recorded the highest rate at 9.48 per cent, followed by Rivers at 8.86 per cent and Osun at 8.32 per cent.

The latest figures suggest a broad slowdown in price growth, although the wide differences between states show that many households are still facing very different food price pressures depending on where they live.

 

NBS: Nigeria’s Inflation Slips to 15.39% in August

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Fatal NURTW Leadership Clash in Osun Leaves Two Dead; State Orders Park Shut Down

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10 hours ago

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September 15, 2026

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Fatal NURTW Leadership Clash in Osun Leaves Two Dead; State Orders Park Shut Down

As Olalekan Oyeyemi is buried in Osogbo, authorities transfer murder probe to the State Criminal Investigation Department.

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Peter Obi Rejects Anambra Debt Claims, Challenges Soludo Govt to Produce Evidence

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17 hours ago

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September 15, 2026

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Peter Obi Rejects Anambra Debt Claims, Challenges Soludo Government to Produce Evidence

Peter Obi Rejects Anambra Debt Claims, Challenges Soludo Government to Produce Evidence

Former Anambra State Governor and 2027 presidential candidate Peter Obi has rejected claims that he left the state with unpaid financial obligations when he handed over power in 2014, challenging the Anambra State Government to identify any contractor, supplier, worker or pensioner who was owed money by his administration at the time.

Obi made the statement in response to renewed claims by the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo that the state is still servicing loans and other financial obligations inherited from previous administrations.

The dispute has opened a fresh political debate over Anambra’s debt profile, the financial obligations inherited by successive governments and the management of the state’s resources before and after Obi left office.

Obi, who governed Anambra between 2006 and 2013 before handing over to his successor in 2014, said he paid what was due during his tenure and left the state in a financially stable position.

He challenged the Soludo administration to provide evidence of any unpaid obligation incurred by his government that remained outstanding when he left office.

According to Obi, if the state government can identify any contractor, supplier, employee, pensioner or other beneficiary who was owed money by his administration at the time of the handover, he would be prepared to address the matter.

The former governor also said his administration left funds in government accounts, including an alleged ₦2.14 billion ecological fund balance, when he handed over power.

However, the claim regarding the ecological fund is from Obi’s camp and would require confirmation from the relevant official financial records.

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The response followed comments by the Anambra Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, who said the state was still repaying loans inherited from previous administrations.

Okafor said the Soludo administration had not obtained any commercial bank loan since it came into office in 2022, arguing that the government’s focus had been on reducing the state’s inherited financial obligations.

He said the state’s debt burden had been substantially reduced under Soludo and that the administration had also cleared inherited liabilities relating to contracts, gratuities and pensions.

The commissioner said some loans taken by previous administrations remain subject to repayment and deductions from the state’s federal allocations.

This distinction is at the centre of the current disagreement.

The Soludo administration is not necessarily claiming that Obi personally left unpaid bills to contractors or workers. Rather, the government is pointing to loans and other financial commitments inherited from successive administrations, some of which continue to be serviced.

Obi, on the other hand, is arguing that his administration settled the obligations that were due and payable when he left office and should not be held responsible for liabilities incurred by subsequent governments.

The issue has therefore raised questions about the difference between a state’s overall outstanding debt and debts that were specifically incurred by an individual administration.

Available public debt records have shown that Anambra had outstanding formal obligations around the period Obi left office. However, the political dispute centres on when particular obligations were incurred, which administration contracted them, when repayment became due and whether they should be described as unpaid debts inherited from Obi’s administration.

The Soludo administration has maintained that it inherited financial commitments from previous governments and has been working to reduce them.

The finance commissioner reportedly said the state’s domestic debt was now close to zero and that the government had reduced its overall debt burden significantly.

He also said the Soludo administration had not resorted to commercial bank borrowing since assuming office, presenting the reduction in liabilities as evidence of improved fiscal management.

The government has simultaneously highlighted investments in infrastructure and other projects while maintaining that debt reduction remains an important part of its financial strategy.

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Obi’s camp, however, has questioned the basis for attributing current financial obligations to his administration.

The former governor has repeatedly presented his tenure as one characterised by fiscal discipline, savings and investment in infrastructure, education, healthcare and other sectors.

His supporters have pointed to the savings and financial reserves accumulated during his tenure as evidence that the state was handed over in relatively strong financial condition.

Critics of the former governor, however, argue that the financial position of a state cannot be assessed solely by looking at cash balances or the absence of unpaid bills because governments can inherit long-term obligations whose repayment extends beyond the tenure of the administration that contracted them.

That distinction is particularly relevant in Anambra, where governments have succeeded one another while continuing to service financial commitments made over several administrations.

The latest exchange has consequently shifted the political conversation from whether Anambra has debt to the more specific question of which administration incurred particular liabilities and whether those obligations were outstanding at the time of each handover.

The dispute also comes at a politically sensitive period, with Obi preparing for the 2027 presidential election under the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).

Questions about his record as Anambra governor are likely to remain part of the political debate as the election approaches, particularly because his administration’s economic management has been a central part of his political narrative.

For Soludo, who is serving as Anambra governor, the emphasis has been on the state’s current fiscal position and the steps his administration says it has taken to reduce inherited liabilities while funding development projects.

For Obi, the priority is to establish that he did not leave unpaid obligations to contractors, workers, pensioners or other beneficiaries when he left office.

The former governor has therefore challenged the state government to publish specific records showing any outstanding obligation attributable to his administration at the point of handover.

The competing claims have yet to be resolved by an independent audit or judicial determination.

What remains clear is that Anambra’s debt debate involves more than a simple disagreement over whether the state owes money. It encompasses loans contracted by successive administrations, repayment schedules, inherited liabilities, outstanding contracts and the question of how political leaders should be held accountable for financial commitments made during their tenure.

As the exchange continues, official debt records, audited financial statements and handover documents could provide the clearest basis for determining the extent of liabilities inherited by each administration.

Until such records are independently reviewed, claims that Obi either left the state completely debt-free or was solely responsible for all of its inherited obligations should be treated with caution.

The latest dispute therefore leaves two competing narratives: Obi’s insistence that he paid what was due before leaving office, and the Soludo administration’s position that Anambra continues to service financial obligations inherited from previous governments, including loans dating back to earlier administrations.

With the 2027 election approaching, the controversy is likely to remain part of the wider political contest over Obi’s record in Anambra and his claims of fiscal discipline in government.

Peter Obi Rejects Anambra Debt Claims, Challenges Soludo Government to Produce Evidence

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