Ajaero was reportedly apprehended at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja while en route to the United Kingdom for a meeting.

The NLC has demanded Ajaero’s “immediate and unconditional release” by midnight on Monday.

The union has also called for an immediate reversal of the recent petrol price increase to N617 per litre.

The NLC has issued a red alert to all affiliates, state councils, civil society allies, and the general public.

Additionally, the NLC has scheduled an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting for 9:00 am on Tuesday, September 10, 2024.

Black marketers have taken advantage of the situation, selling as high as N1,300 per litre and N1,500 per 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.

On Saturday, while reacting to the long queues and scarcity in some parts of the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said the tightness in fuel supply and distribution was caused by a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.

“The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is as a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels,”  the NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said.

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.

It was observed on Sunday in Abuja, the capital city that while the few filling stations that dispensed the product sold it at between N660/litre and N800/litre, black marketers took advantage of the scarcity to hike the price to about N1,200/litre, depending on the area of purchase.

This came as oil marketers revealed that they were also queuing up to load petrol, adding that most depots lacked stock to sell.

“We, marketers, too are surprised that we couldn’t get fuel as we used to get at depots. We were worried too; we didn’t know the cause until the NNPC came out with a release on Saturday. Let’s just believe what the NNPC said, that they would arrest the situation,” the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, told one of our correspondents.

“I believe that within this week, everything will be normalised by the time they push products to the depots for marketers to pick from. Ours is to pick from the depots, take it into our stations, and dispense to the public. But for now, most of the depots are dry. The implication of that is that the stations will be dry too. Most of our members have run out of stock. That is the cause of the queues we are experiencing now,” Fashola added.

He noted that marketers were still buying PMS “at a price that is above N700/litre from the private depots.”

“We are not yet getting direct supply from the NNPC as we are supposed to. What we are getting is so small compared to our population. That is why we are forced to go to the third parties, the private depot owners, and they are not helping matters with the kind of price they are putting out there.

“That is why independent marketers sell around N800 or so. Until we address this issue of direct supply, there will be issues. We keep shouting to the NNPC to look at that area properly because something is fundamentally wrong with our distribution channel and until they correct that, we will continue to have this issue of fuel scarcity.”

On his part, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, also confirmed that there had been low stock but could not tell when the situation would improve.

“The problem is that the stock is low because there have been some challenges in bringing the product into the country from the vessels. We are all queuing up for products, everybody is looking for the product from the NNPC. Only the NNPC knows when normalcy will be restored. It is the sole supplier,” he stated.

The spokesperson for the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, did not respond to inquiries on Sunday on when the fuel supply situation would improve up till when this report was filed.

The marketers said they have had to resort to depot owners to get petrol available at their retail outlets hence the “slight” increment in the prices of the indispensable product across the country.

The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, spoke on behalf of the marketers on Tuesday’s Channels Television’s The Morning Brief breakfast programme.

Petrol scarcity hit the country late with the state-managed NNPC blaming the shortage on “adverse weather conditions” and “flooding”.

Snake-like queues have been seen at filling stations across the country. The situation has worsened traffic in states as the long queues spilt on major roads, hindering vehicular movement just as thousands of people were stranded at bus stops with transport fares doubling the previous amounts.

Aside from NNPC filling stations selling at about ₦570 in Lagos, retail outlets owned by independent marketers jerked up their prices from about ₦615 to over ₦650. The prices are far higher in Abuja and other states.

PETROAN chief (Gillis-Harry) confirmed that the NNPC, which imports petrol into the country and supplies marketers, has not changed its price but “if we do not get the product directly from NNPC, we will get it from depots struggling to do everything to get products out in the market, so the prices will not be the same”.

He said the NNPC was carrying out an upgrade on its platform and that should be concluded as soon as possible “but that did not stop NNPC from making alternative arrangements to make sure we have petroleum products. As far as we know, the challenges are all supply-based”.

“If there is anybody to be blamed; it should be blamed from the source of the products because retailers only sell what we are given, we do not import or refine,” he added.

Gillis-Harry said the cost of logistics was getting more complex daily because diesel used by trucks has also become scarce and expensive. He said the prices of logistics for fuel distribution across Nigeria should be subsidised by the government.

He denied the allegations that petrol marketers are taking advantage of Nigerians by hiking the prices of the commodity. He said the highest cost of petrol should not be more than ₦680.

“I would expect that the highest price in petroleum where the depots operate – Lagos, Delta, Calabar, Rivers State – should be anything between ₦620 to ₦680 maximum. And when you add all the transportation issues that should take it from state to state, you can then look at the incremental additions that can come in, and make us not to be selling at ₦1,000,” Gillis-Harry said.

The oil firm released an official statement through its Twitter account on Monday night to address recent speculations.

Contrary to media reports suggesting an impending increase from the current N617 per litre to a range of N720 to N750 per litre in the upcoming weeks, NNPCL categorically refuted these claims.

The company’s announcement firmly clarifies its stance, asserting that it remains committed to maintaining the existing petrol pump prices.

“Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPC Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our petrol motor spirit (PMS) pump prices as widely speculated.

“Please buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPC Retail stations nationwide,” the NNPCL said.

NLC President, Mr. Joe Ajaero, conveyed the organization’s strong stance during a recent event.

Ajaero also expressed concerns about the alleged encroachment on the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s duties by other governmental entities.

In response, the Presidency promptly addressed the situation, stating that President Bola Tinubu is actively addressing the country’s economic challenges and striving to alleviate the hardship faced by citizens.

In another development, oil marketers in Abuja urged urgent intervention from the Federal Government to halt the consistent depreciation of the naira against the dollar, which has substantially impacted the cost of petrol.

Mr. Ajaero, while reacting to advice from the Director of Trade Union Services, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Emmanuel Igbinosun, emphasized that Nigerians have endured considerable hardships due to governmental policies.

He criticized the lack of attention to policies that erode wages and exacerbate inflation.

Ajaero highlighted the need to address the root causes of economic struggles, emphasizing that merely increasing wages without addressing underlying issues would be insufficient.

Furthermore, Ajaero called out recent indications of a potential petrol price increase, expressing that the NLC would not provide notice before taking action if the consequences of previous price hikes had not been adequately addressed.

He cited concerns about the potential inflationary impact of further price increases and urged comprehensive attention to the concerns of Nigerian workers.

The situation remains fluid as the NLC continues to advocate for economic stability and the protection of workers’ rights.

Data sourced from Refinitiv Eikon indicates that average monthly imports plummeted by 56% during this period.

Specifically, June loadings from the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub to West Africa tumbled from 895,000 tonnes last year to 629,000 tonnes, while July loadings also slumped to 627,000 tonnes from 1.5 million tonnes in 2022.

Refinitiv Lead Oil Analyst Raj Rajendran pointed out that “demand from West Africa is drying up,” which is notably evident in Nigeria where petrol demand has shrunk following the removal of subsidies on May 29.

Despite this decline, foreign refiners from Russia, the Middle East, and Europe are vying to ramp up their exports of refined petrol to Nigeria. Russian petrol imports to Nigeria soared by 84% over the past year, with substantial growth in 2023 compared to 2022.

European refiners are facing pressure as one of their primary markets for gasoline, Nigeria, has seen domestic demand plummet due to subsidy removal and smuggling challenges. The shift is likely to benefit newer Middle Eastern refineries.

Nigeria’s petrol demand reportedly fell by 28%, leading to an increase in onshore gasoline stocks. The country’s reliance on petrol imports persists due to limited domestic refining capacity.

As the West African petrol market transforms, European refiners adapt to changing dynamics and seek new opportunities amid shifting demand patterns.

Mike Osatuyi, the National Controller of Operations at the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, highlighted the benefits of the Federal Government’s investment in functional refineries.

He emphasized the urgent completion of refinery repairs to alleviate the strain and significant financial burden caused by fuel imports.

He told The PUNCH on Wednesday, that although the contracts for revamping of refineries had been awarded, it would be a great development for repairs to be completed as soon as possible, to ease the stress and huge finance of importation on the country.

He said, “The contract has been awarded already before the new government came into office. IPMAN doesn’t know the context of the contract, but if the refineries are working, it would cut freight and ship-to-ship transfer costs.

“Not less than N60/N70 per litre will be off if the refineries start working.”

He listed other benefits of operational local refining as reduction in insurance costs, reduction in product delivery time, and increase in employment.

According to him, “Cost of insurance would reduce, and then if we keep importing, it takes about 30 days for ships to arrive in Nigeria and we would have to pay for hiring the vessel.

“But if we refine in the country, products would arrive within one day.  There will also be more jobs for the masses. It’s a lot of benefits.”

A former Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria and Chairman/Chief Executive of 11 Plc, Tunji Oyebanji, said marketers did not prefer products importation over local production.

“We want local refineries to work because we don’t enjoy importing,” he said.

Nigeria still relied heavily on petrol importation due to lack of functional local refineries.

Since removal of subsidies on May 29, prices of petrol had shot up tremendously, rising from about N198/N200 per litre to N617 per litre.

Local consumption has since dropped by 30 per cent from 66 million litres per day recorded before subsidies removal.

National President, IPMAN, Chinedu Oknokwo, during the House of Representatives Public Hearing held on Tuesday, said in proffering solutions to the animated social problems of pump price increase of petroleum products, there was need to quickly adopt the global alternative clean energy concept of Compressed Natural Gas.

During the plenary in Abuja on Tuesday, a motion presented by Rep. Adegboyega Isiaka (APC-Ogun) was adopted by the House, addressing the issue.

Isiaka highlighted that in November 2019, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) imposed a ban on the sale and supply of petrol in communities located within 20 kilometers of the Nigerian border. The purpose of the ban was to curb the smuggling of subsidized petroleum products to neighboring countries.

Isiaka argued that since the government has now eliminated the petrol subsidy, the ban is no longer necessary. He emphasized that the ban has resulted in significant hardships for millions of Nigerians residing and conducting businesses in the affected areas.

Communities in 15 states have been affected, forcing residents to travel long distances to obtain petroleum products or pay inflated prices to secure them for their daily needs. The ban has also had adverse effects on socio-economic activities in these areas.

The House, in support of the motion, called on the Nigeria Customs Service and other relevant government agencies to promptly lift the ban.

Additionally, when constituted, the Committee on Customs and Excise has been mandated to ensure compliance with the resolution.

By urging the reversal of the ban, the House of Representatives seeks to alleviate the burdens faced by communities in border areas and restore normalcy to their economic activities regarding the sale and availability of petrol.

After the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in the Council Chamber, Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum resources, revealed this to State House correspondents.

The minister insisted that there is no shortage of petroleum products; rather, the distribution of the items is a barrier, which the government is striving to address.

During a question-and-answer session, the minister mentioned that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has consented to cooperate with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to guarantee adequate petroleum product supply during the exercise.

Sylva also announced that FEC approved the award of contract for the construction of the Oloibiri Oil Museum and Research Centre to Messrs Julius Berger Plc, at the sum of 117 billion naira, a 300-month contract he said will be a major legacy of the President in the Niger Delta area.

The Executive Vice President, Downstream, NNPC Limited, Adeyemi Adetunji disclosed this in a statement, adding that the stock of over two billion litres is equivalent to over 30 days of sufficiency, NAN reports.

The NNPC, he said, has programmed vessels and trucks to unconstrained depots while massive load-outs from depots to states are closely monitored to ease fuel queues.

“The gridlock is easing out and NNPC Ltd has programmed vessels and trucks to unconstrained depots and massive load outs from depots to states are closely monitored,” he said.

Adetunji said that Abuja was impacted by the challenges recorded in Lagos, adding that NNPC retail and key marketers had intensified dedicated loading into Abuja to restore normalcy.

“We want to reassure Nigerians that NNPC has sufficient products and we significantly increased product loading in selected depots and extended hours at strategic stations to ensure sufficiency nationwide.

“We are also working with industry stakeholders to ensure normalcy is returned as soon as possible,” he said.