- Transport fares from Kaduna to Abuja now exceed the usual N1, 500 to between N1, 700 and N2,000
- Anthony Amitaye, national president of the Association of Mega Filling Station Owners of Nigeria (AMFSON), notes that the status quo will continue if members of his association are not adequately engaged
- He says concentrating petroleum products at NNPC stations alone would not help adequate supply
Black marketers in Kaduna state are having a joyous time as a result of the increase in the price of petrol, reports have indicated.
Due to the ongoing fuel scarcity, many filling stations in Kanuna have been closed. This of course have forced motorists to scout for the product from other dealers who sell to motorists between N300 and N350 per litre.
Consequently, there were long queues of vehicles at various black market spots around the city.
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The Cable reports that the scarcity already has an after-effect of serious increase in transport fares.
The report said passengers were paying between N1,700 and N2,000 to Abuja, a journey that is normally fixed at N1,500.
But despite the lamentation of residents to the government to come for help, Anthony Amitaye, national president of the Association of Mega Filling Station Owners of Nigeria (AMFSON), noted that the scarcity will stretch for as long as his members are not “adequately engaged” in the distribution process of petroleum products.
He stated that the present situation is as a result of a fault in the distribution system.
He alleged that AMFSON members were boycotted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) retail to service other markets.
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He said: “The fastest way out of this present predicament is for NNPC Retail to revert to what they have always used to work the magic in times like this.
“That is using my members across the country (NNPC affiliate stations) because we are strategically located nationwide.
“Concentrating supply on the NNPC Mega stations cannot make any serious impact on consumers at this time of scarcity.”
Anthony called on the minister of state for petroleum resources, Ibe Kachikwu, to instruct NNPC to supply more products to the NNPC retail to service authorized stations.
Earlier, NAIJ.com reported that the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), on Monday, December 18, said that it has suspended its ongoing strike.
PENGASSAN national public relations officer, Fortune Obi, said in a statement in Lagos that the union suspended the strike following intervention of the ministers of labour and productivity as well as that of petroleum resources.
Reports had it that the union embarked on the strike to protest the sacking of some employees of NECONDE Oil Limited.
Price of petrol crashes in Nigeria on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Tuesday, 19 December 2017