Nigerians might soon be faced with fuel scarcity as petroleum marketers sounded an alarm over a critical disruption in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, following the closure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) purchase portal.
The spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
According to him, marketers have more than 2,000 pending tickets for the purchasing of 45,000 liters of petrol.
“We have more than 2,000 tickets for 45,000 liters of petrol. That is 45,000 multiplied by 2,000, you can now know the number of million liters it will be,” he explained.
He said the backlog amounts to millions of liters of petrol, with a truckload of 45,000 liters costing around ₦39.5 million. When multiplied by 2,000, the outstanding sum adds up to approximately ₦79 billion.
Ukadike warned that the portal’s closure is creating bottlenecks in supply, which could result in another round of fuel shortages across the country.
“I can’t confirm the price now because the portal is still shut down,” he added, expressing concern about the growing supply gap.
In response to the concerns raised, Olufemi Soneye, spokesperson for NNPCL, acknowledged the backlog but assured that the company is working to address the issue.
He confirmed that the shutdown of the portal was intentional, designed to prevent the company from holding onto marketers’ funds for extended periods while trying to manage the backlog.
“We have a significant backlog to address. The closure is intended to prevent us from holding marketers’ funds for an extended period,” Soneye said.
While he promised that the portal would soon be reopened, he did not provide a specific date for when this would happen.
“It will be reopened once the backlog has been sufficiently reduced. We are working to address it as soon as possible,” he added.
The development comes as Nigerians struggle with high energy costs.
Recall that NNPCL in September 2024 announced a fresh price increase for petrol nationwide after lifting the product from Dangote Refinery.
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