Photonews: Fuel scarcity threatens to bite harder at the eye of a failing economy
– Nigeria’s economy has continued to experience very bad times
– The naira has hit and all time low and threatens to fall on the parallel market
– The economy is further threatened by an imminent fuel scarcity
A very hard time it is for Nigeria, as the nation is currently facing severe economic hardship. As of Thursday, February 18, the Nigerian naira dramatically fell further on the black market, as the demand for dollars enlarged amid a plunge in crude oil prices and foreign exchange restrictions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a bid to salvage the economic disaster and curb the continuous fall in oil prices the federal government says it might effect a further reduction in the pump price of petrol from April 2016.
It will be recalled that Farouk Ahmed, the outgoing executive secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), said on Wednesday, February 3, that about one month after the commencement of an earlier price modulation which led to the review of the pricing template of petrol, the country had saved N2.6 billion.
However, while the federal government is looking at ways to save the dying economy, there are fears that a very severe fuel scarcity will hit the nation as long hours of queues are beginning to hit some filling stations while others lay empty due to lack of supply.
Below are photos that show how gradually the fuel scarcity is creeping in, ready to cripple further the embattled economy.
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There are complaints that most filling stations have no fuel to sell and some who are selling have hiked their price due to demand
Many filling stations within the Lagos metropolis have ceased sales due to a dearth in supply of petrol products
Deserted filling station with attendants awaiting fuel supply.
Empty filling station at Asade market area of Agege.
Following the non-availability of petroleum products in most filling stations in Port Harcourt, the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) workers, Port Harcourt zone, have accused the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in the zone of failing to monitor activities of depot owners and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.
NUPENG described the current fuel scarcity in Rivers state as sabotage, stressing that the inability of the DPR to do their job by monitoring depot owners who refuse to sell their products is the cause of the hardship faced in the hardship faced in the state.
Meanwhile, Professor Wole Soyinka has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to convene an emergency economic conference to enable experts proffer solutions to the economic crisis bedeviling the country.
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