Petrol marketers have attributed the recent petrol scarcity in Nigeria to supply challenges faced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the sole importer of the commodity.
Marketers have turned to depot owners to obtain petrol for their retail outlets, resulting in a slight increase in prices across the country.
The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, spoke on behalf of the marketers during a television programme, yesterday.
Petrol scarcity has recently hit the country, with the state-managed NNPC blaming the shortage on “adverse weather conditions” and “flooding”.
Long queues at filling stations have worsened traffic conditions, with many people stranded at bus stops due to doubled transport fares.
Aside from NNPC filling stations selling at about N570 in Lagos, retail outlets owned by independent marketers have raised their prices from about N615 to over N650.
Prices are even higher in Abuja and other states.