As queues resurface at filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), some marketers have begun adjusting their metres, while others have out-rightly raised their pump price from N617 to about N630.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, earlier told State House Correspondents that the government has not reintroduced subsidy, adding that the queues are as a result of hiccups in the distribution chain between the South and the North.
However, reports indicate that some stations have remained shut, while the few that sold fuel have since adjusted their pump price to as much as N630/litre.
Along the Kubwa Expressway, at the NNPC Junction, Eterna Filling Station, though with a few attendants around, declined selling fuel to customers.
Similarly, Gegu Oil, close to the Dutse Bridge on the same Expressway, had its gates shut.
At the Aso Energy Resources Station in Kubwa Phase 2, our correspondent observed a lengthy queue, with only one functional pump, while fuel was dispensed at N630/litre.
A.A. Rano filling station at the Jabi Garage also had a queue, with petrol being dispensed at N625/litre.
Meanwhile, the NNPCL filling stations at Wuse Zone 6 and Garki Area 10 sold petrol at a normal pump price of N617/litre.
Some residents were quoted as lamenting the situation, noting that some stations are defrauding customers.
“If you go to some stations at Kubwa, you could buy N10,000 fuel but what was actually sold was N5,000, the rest is just air. Sometimes, if you are not observant, the meter starts reading from about N300 or even N600,” Mark Aloysius said.
Another resident, Festus Isaiah, lamented, “I’m an electronics salesman. If I don’t buy fuel to move around, I must fill my generator, because what kind of electronics store will not have power to display what it is selling. Even if it goes up to N1,000/litre now, I have to buy it and it’s not fair. We know the marketers control the price now, but can’t government regulate them. Are they bigger than the government?”
Meanwhile, black marketers have begun taking advantage of the situation, as they sell fuel from jerry cans for as much as N850/litre.
“I buy at N620/litre, then I resell at N800 or N850 per litre, depending on my assessment of who I’m selling to”, Sule, a black market operator told our correspondent.