For about two weeks now, I have been queuing up for at least an hour just to purchase fuel in petrol stations here in Abuja, and that routine is becoming tiring. Some of the petrol stations locked up their outlets, some said they don’t have petrol for sale while others said they are keeping theirs for the future.
Some of the petrol stations that are fortunately dispensing petrol to buyers are insisting that a buyer is not allowed to buy more than N3000 worth of petrol at once and that’s the order from their management. If you insist that you must buy more than N3000 worth, the fuel attendants won’t attend to you unless you are connected to one of them.
What is the reason for the fuel scarcity in Abuja?
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It seems that the fuel scarcity (so to be called) is only happening in the federal capital territory, as other states and cities are going on with their regular fuel and petrol availability. Abuja residents have been asking the question; “what is the reason for the fuel scarcity currently ongoing for weeks now”.
Many are yet to get the answer to this question. Some claim that there is no fuel scarcity; motorists are just “panic-buying” due to the back and forth policy of the government on the fuel subsidy removal, hence, the reason for the long queue at petrol stations.
Some also said that the reason for the fuel scarcity is that petrol stations decided to lock up their outlets to hoard fuel and save it for future sales just because of the government policy on fuel subsidy which could drive the price of fuel up in the near future.
Whatever the reason for the fuel scarcity in Abuja is, the government should step in and ameliorate the situation. These have been causing traffic gridlock as vehicles queue up from the petrol stations to the roads. Productive times are also wasted queuing up for hours just to get fuel.
The government is yet to make up its mind on the fuel subsidy policy. It seems they are not sure what they are going to do yet.