The queues by motorists for petrol grew worse in Abuja and neighbouring states of Nasarawa and Niger on Monday as only a few filling stations dispensed the commodity.
But despite the scarcity and queues, which had lingered for several days, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation insisted on Monday that it had enough product to keep the country wet with petrol for about 40 days.
Reacting to the development, oil marketers described the present scarcity was as tactics deployed by the Federal Government and its agencies in their bid to hike the price of petrol.
This, they said, was due to the rise in global crude oil prices and the increase in the foreign exchange rate in Nigeria.
Speaking on the development, the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, said the current scarcity would lead to a hike in price.
He said, “The government want people to buy it at a high rate before they will announce an increase in price. When filling stations or black marketers start selling it at around N250/litre, they will then announce a pump price that could be between N180 to N200/litre. Then people will now say, oh thank God for we now have patrol no matter the increase in price. It is a market tactic. And it is intentionally done to effect a change in price. Right now, if I buy petrol at N160/litre in Lagos and I bring it to Abuja, will I sell it at N160/litre? Of course, I won’t. Rather when I bring it in at N160, the price at the pumps after transporting it that far will be around N180 to N200/litre. By this, the independent marketers who help to buffer the pressure on major marketers are gradually being fizzled out of business.”