FUEL SCARCITY: KANO MARKETERS SUMMONED BY THE DSS TO RESOLVE FUEL SHORTAGE

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DAMILOLA LAWRENCE

The Department of State Service has summoned the Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and other stakeholders, directing them to resolve the state’s lingering fuel shortage as soon as possible.

With a litre of fuel in Kano costing between N310 and N320, the meeting was held on Monday and lasted several hours, according to a senior DSS official who did not want his name mentioned.

During the meeting, he claimed, the marketers guided the DSS through their issues and offered solutions for moving the product from other parts of Nigeria to Kano.

He stated that among the difficulties they were having were the high cost of supplying gasoline to the country’s north, the poor condition of the roads, which frequently caused damage to their trucks, and the Federal government’s refusal to settle their bridging claims.

To ensure a constant supply of the good to filling stations in the state, the Department of Petroleum Resources established a three-person team to monitor supplies in Kano. This team started working on Tuesday (today).

According to reports, the DPR promised the DSS that it would ensure full compliance with the uninterrupted fuel supply, which would in the coming days relieve Kano of the lengthy lines of drivers at gas stations.

Due to the ongoing fuel crisis, many drivers have left their cars in parking lots because few gas stations have remained open.

An investigation in the ancient city revealed that most of the filling stations had been closed for more than three weeks, and the few that were selling the commodity were besieged by long lines of vehicles.

According to the investigation, the few gas stations that were still open had abruptly raised their prices to between N310 and N320 per liter.

However, it also showed that many young people without jobs had entered the industry, which meant that black marketers were having a field day in the cities.

Even though the government had not raised the pump price, some of the gas stations run by Independent Petroleum Marketers preferred to sell the product to black marketeers in order to maximize profit.

Due to the closure of the town’s gas stations, it was noticed that drivers had turned to buying the product from black marketeers.