Fuel is now selling for as much as N400 per litre in Abuja, as the fuel scarcity in the Nigerian capital enters day four.

This is an unimaginable jump from the official price of N97 per litre at which it was sold prior to the fuel crisis which started on Wednesday – two days after the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) began a seven-day warning strike by suspending lifting of petroleum products to Abuja.

A correspondent of Transport & Business Express who went round parts of Abuja last night reported that most of the marketers had completely fun out of fuel.

“Only NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) filling stations are still selling fuel in Abuja and environs, and the queues at such stations are simply massive,” he said.

However, Joel Dappa, an Abuja-based media executive, said it was still possible to get fuel in a few places but that it is “now selling for N400 per litre.”

As reported by Transport & Business Express two days ago, transport fares have since doubled as more transporters are unable to obtain fuel. A bus operator had said: “You cannot buy more than 2,500 worth of fuel. If you want a full tan, you have to pay extra 500 to the fuel attendant.”

Now, however, there is virtually no fuel to buy and Abuja has become a ghost town.

The strike that brought about the crisis is part of efforts by oil marketing companies, depot and jetty owners under the umbrella of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and Jetties and Petroleum Tank Farms Owners of Nigeria (JEPTFON) to get the Federal Government to pay their members all outstanding subsidy claims amounting to N200 billion.

After initial grandstanding, the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Finance, initiated a meeting with representatives of the striking oil marketers in Abuja but nothing concrete has come out of it. The ministry had earlier denied the allegation of the oil marketers, accusing them of blackmail.

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