According to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), panic buying by Nigerians is to blame for the country’s queues’ reappearance in some areas.
Following President Bola Tinubu’s announcement that the petrol subsidy will be discontinued, MDB has previously reported that lines for petrol have returned in several areas of the nation.
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In Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja, it was noted that some gas stations were closed while long lines of people were waiting to purchase the product at those that did.
In response to the situation, Mike Osatuyi, national operations controller of IPMAN, revealed to the media that the reflexive action of customers who wanted to stock up on cheap petrol before the price of the product increased was to blame for the unprecedented level of queues.
He said;
The queue has to do with the announcement made by the president. People want to refill their tanks so that they can buy it at a good price before the price increases.
Now that subsidy has gone, it has gone for life. And now, there is fairness for Nigeria as a country. Some marketers are the beneficiaries of the subsidy, including smugglers.
But as the president has said, whatever the gain on the subsidy is, it will be used for infrastructure. Now that they (the new administration) want to have a unified foreign exchange, everyone can buy and import on the same platform.
When asked about the product’s availability, Osatuyi said there is currently enough stock to supply the nation, but that there would be a price increase.
“No, there would not be scarcity, but the problem is that there is going to be an increase in price,”the IPMAN official said.
However, he said the removal of the subsidy will benefit the general public and result in the improvement of infrastructure and the building of good roads.
When asked what price the product is likely to rise to, he said;
It is going to be determined by market forces, and then it has to do with the exchange rate and the crude price. That is going to be the determinant of the price.
