SCARCITY OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS - EFFECTS OF A FAILED GOVERNMENT

Never before has Nigeria experienced the fuel situation presently as we have seen. This is a clear indication that the out-going administration had never really been sincere with the situation.

That is not far fetched, with a staggering amount of #196 billion subsidy claim not properly accounted for and the fear of the new administration, there is room for subsidy claim unaccounted for. The situation was clearly reflected in the following messages sent by organisations to various communication channels:

Gauranty Trust Bank had this to say

Dear customer,

            NOTICE OF EARLY CLOSURE OF BRANCHES

The current shortage of petroleum products in the country has limited our ability to supply diesel to all our branches in order to continue normal branch operations.

Due to this, we unavoidably have to close branches nationwide by 1pm from Monday, 12th May, 2015.

Whilst we had to take this step to close branch operations early, we would like to seek your understanding  at this time, and assure you that we will continue to work hard at finding alternative solutions to this situation and will advise you once the situation has abated.

We sincerely apologise for every inconvenience this might cause you.

Thank you for banking with us.

MTN NIGERIA

Dear  customer, due to the diesel scarcity nationwide you may experience degraded services. we are working hard to address the situation. Please bear with us.

ACCESS BANK

Due to the fuel crisis, branches in Lagos, Abuja and Kaduna will close by 1pm.  Please visit our website for other branches and selected branches in Lagos and Abuja closing by 3pm.

The situation got bad when Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) had to sell for between #400 and #600 per litre at the filling station, diesel sold for as high as #350 to #400 per litre at filling station where there were available.

The good news however, Capital Oil boss, Andy Uba had promised to start supply at 300 tankers delivered per day as at 25th May.

More so, the strike by the Oil marketers in protest against the Federal government for non-payment of  their subsidy was called off after both parties came to an understanding with the intervention of the senate committee on petroleum products.

With the latest developments, the pump prices for PMS across filling station has reduced to between #150 and #170 per litre. This situation looks promising as prices are expected to return to normal as the week runs out.