News
Filling stations shut, queues persist as depots ration fuel
Many filling stations were shut in several states as the queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, continued on Monday while depots rationed the volumes of PMS released to marketers.
In Abuja, NIger and Nasarawa states, several filling stations were shut, while the few ones that dispensed petrol recorded different levels of fuel queues.
The NNPC and Conoil filling stations along the Kubwa end of the Kubwa-Zuba expressway in Abuja had long queues of motorists who sought to buy petrol on Monday. Many other outlets including Salbas, Gegu Oil, and Eterna, among others that are located on the busy road, had no product to dispense and were closed.
In Niger State, one of our correspondents observed that the three NNPC retail outlets located between Zuba and Madalla were closed. Other outlets on the Zuba-Madalla axis of the expressway such as A.A Rano, B.A Bello, Total, A.Y Maikifi, Major Oil and Enyo were all shut on Monday.
Their closures led to massive queues at the only Mobil filling station in Madalla that was dispensing petrol on Monday when our correspondent toured the areas to observe the fuel supply situation.
As the queues persisted, depot owners continued to battle a low supply of petrol. One of our correspondents also observed that only the filling stations owned by the major marketers dispensed fuel to buyers on Monday amid long queues in some parts of Lagos and Ogun State.
It was observed that retail outlets owned by the independent marketers were under lock and key due to their inability to get fuel supply.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail outlet in Iyana-Woro had a long queue of vehicles waiting to buy petrol. The NNPC Retail outlets usually sell PMS at prices below N600/litre in Lagos, but dispense it at N617/litre in Abuja and environs.
Also, the Heyden filling station along Iyana-Woro, MRS at Alapere, Conoil, TotalEnergies, and Mobil along Alahusa Secretariat all had long queues as they sold a litre of PMS between N617 and N650.
Drivers who could not wait in the queues said they had to patronise the independent marketers who sell between N700 and N900/litre. The situation led to a rise in transport fares across Lagos and Ogun states.
A depot operator, who pleaded anonymity, confided in one of our correspondents that the few depots that had the product engaged in rationing on Monday.
“Nothing has changed as of Monday. The depot owners have started rationing the little they have. Depots are loading, but at snail speed, and this was occasioned by the paucity of product,” the source stated.
Another source hinted that it might take up to a week to restore normalcy, adding that the planned hunger protest might worsen the situation.
“This scarcity will be with us till the weekend because supply dislocation takes a minimum of one week to get to normalcy. If the movement of trucks during protest is affected, it will get worse,” he added.
The PUNCH reported that many petrol depots were dry as of Sunday, leading to fuel scarcity and attendant queues in Lagos, Ogun, parts of Abuja, Niger, and some other states across the country.
It was gathered that black marketers had since taken advantage of the situation, selling as high as N1,300/litre and N1,500/litre in parts of Lagos and Ogun states.
Long queues started building up at fuel stations in Abuja and Lagos on Friday and have persisted.
“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels,” NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, had explained.
The company added that it was “working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations.”
However, despite the assurance by the NNPC, the situation worsened as checks by our correspondents nationwide on Sunday showed that there were long queues at several filling stations across major cities.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ordered a fresh hearing in the legal battle over the disputed Kano Emirate involving Alhaji Nasir Ado Bayero.
The Appellate Court, in a judgment delivered on Friday, held that Bayero was denied fair hearing due to the shoddy manner in which a Kano High Court conducted proceedings against him.
Justice Mohammed Mustapha, who delivered the lead judgement, stated that the Kano High Court was unfair to Bayero by conducting proceedings without serving him a hearing notice to enable him to present his case.
Justice Mustapha held that all courts of law are bound to ensure justice for all parties by giving them equal opportunities, adding that the conduct of the proceedings against Bayero amounted to a travesty of justice.
Specifically, the Appellate Court held that Bayero ought to have been served with a hearing notice to allow him to present his grievances before judgment was delivered against him in what it described as a shoddy arrangement.
The Court of Appeal, therefore, ordered that the case be remitted to the Chief Judge of the Kano State High Court to be reassigned to another judge for expeditious determination.
Justice Mustapha did not award costs against the respondents in the appeal filed by Ahaji Ado Bayero.
Details later.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze N’digbo Worldwide has elected Dim Uche Nnamdi Okwukwu as its new factional President General.
The election, which took place at a convention in Port Harcourt on Thursday night, saw Okwukwu, a legal practitioner and former Secretary General of the group, chosen unopposed.
Okwukwu, from Elele in Rivers State, expressed his gratitude to the delegates and outlined his commitment to addressing the issues facing the Igbo people.
He stated that uniting the fractured Igbo community would be his priority.
His plans include engaging with the government and key stakeholders to seek the release of Nnamdi Kanu and other political prisoners, as well as pushing for economic and infrastructural development in Igbo areas.
Additionally, he intends to address security concerns, including kidnapping and other forms of violence, and work toward restructuring efforts that involve all ethnic groups.
More to come…
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The recent defection of lawmakers from the Labour Party to the All Progressives Congress (APC)he member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/ Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Obi Aguocha has declared that as it stands Julius Abure is the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP
Obi, an ally to Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, stated this while speaking on the recent defection of lawmakers from the Labour Party to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the lawmaker, there is no leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party that warrants the defection of the party’s lawmakers.
In an interview with the New Telegraph, Aguocha noted that there is no political party that doesn’t have crisis but the leadership has remained steadfast in finding solutions.
Speaking on the defection, he said: “We have a governor but some people are only fixated on the five decampees.
“They’re my colleagues, and I would not say ill of my colleagues because it was a personal decision they took.
“Some of them have explained their actions in the public domain, and part of what they said was that there is a perceived division in the Labour Party.
There’s no political party, especially the top three in Nigeria, that doesn’t have any issues. APC has their problems. PDP has their problems. The Labour Party, of course, has its problems.
“But the most important thing is that the leadership of Labour Party has remained steadfast in finding solutions to the problems that we have in the Labour Party.
“Yes, our matter has gone through the High Court and is on appeal. I would believe that by the time the court decides as to the direction of the party, then all of us will now know the direction to move.
“But by way of the determination of the court, Julius Abure by determination of the court, whether right or wrong, is the chairman of the party. So, there’s no division in the Labour Party.”
2027 election
Obi Aguocha pointed out that most of these lawmakers who defected come from states that do not have a Labour Party government, so, it’s also an issue of their self-survival.
“They probably maybe under pressure that the election for 2027 is going to be very difficult for them without a helping hand from the state government,” he said.
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