Following the persistent scarcity of fuel in the country, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has accused petroleum marketers in the country of diverting the premium motor spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol for other uses other than its intended purposes.
The minister made the allegation during an unscheduled inspection to filling stations in Lagos State on Sunday.
According to her, “we have enough fuel to wet the country, but the challenge we are having is that, after loading, some truck drivers will not supply the lifted products at the designated filling stations.
“Having gone round the state (Lagos), it is not just the filling stations in Ikoyi that appeared to be wet with the product, but other extreme locations like Ajah and other parts in Surulere.
“It appears there are lots of factors militating against efficient delivery of fuel.
“We learnt that some of the marketers instructed their drivers to change the number plates of their trucks to make it difficult for tracking. Does it mean those markets they are diverting the product to are more lucrative than intended markets.
“I have directed the heads of the agencies, DPR, PPMC and PPPRA, to get back to me today and give me a clear picture and timeline in terms of the number of trucks coming to Lagos, the volumes and where they are getting to in terms of the market.”
She stated further that: “there is diversion and I want some ideas about the diversion. If we can establish there is diversion, I want to know when and how this is being done.
“They need to supply me how these trucks are being tracked because diversion is not easy to do. There will be sanctions and I’m ready to publish the name of anybody that may be involved.”
The minister, however, assured Nigerians that there are enough product in strategic reserves that will last for over two weeks if importation of fuel is suspended today.
The minister visited over 15 filling stations in Surulere, Ikoyi, Ajah and Iponri areas in Lagos State.
However, a dealer in one of the filling stations visited on Sunday, confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune on condition of anonymity that the alleged diversion is being executed by people at the top.
According to him, “the people at the top are behind the diversion of the product. My supply has been steady in the last few days maybe because they know that the minister will be visiting today.
Meanwhile, petrol stations across Lagos and Ogun states have refused to revert to the old pump price, as many of them still sell at N150 per litre.
Motorists, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune, called on state governments and other regulatory agencies to compel filling stations to revert to the official price of the product.
It should be noted that a few filling stations like Oba Filling Station, Iyana Ejigbo and MRS at Jakande Gate on Sunday, sold fuel at N97 per litre, resulting in long queues in both filling stations.
However, the Nigerian Tribune investigations revealed that many of the filling stations, which got supply of petrol between Friday and Sunday, refused to sell, as they anticipated an increase in the price of the product.
Residents of Ogun State were not left out of paying more than the official N97 per litre as they paid between N110 and N13o for a litre of petrol .
At a filling station in Alli Isiba area of Sango, petrol was sold for N120 on Friday and reduced to N110 on Saturday.
Drivers, who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune claimed that attendants at filling stations were also taking advantage of the long queues in their stations to extort money from them.
A driver, simply identified as Sunday Respect said that he was forced to cough out N50 as bribe, before his vehicle could be filled with petrol at an unnamed filling station in Ogun State.
He called on the state government to force the filling station to revert to the normal price, since the federal government and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation have insisted that they are not increasing fuel pump price.
Another driver , who identified himself as Conleth also claimed that many of the filling stations received supply and decided not to sell as “ many of them are praying that government should increase the price of petrol “
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