Car owners in Nigeria can heave a sigh of relief as the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) has come out to debunk rumours and reports that suggested that Nigeria was on the brink of experiencing yet another fuel scarcity.
According to the NNPC, this rumour was hinged on the alleged refusal of certain oil marketers to lift products from their designated depots. As expected, this resulted in a phase of panic buying for individuals and businesses who were trying to avoid getting caught off guard by the crippling effects of fuel scarcity.
To affirm its stand on the fuel scarcity rumours, the NNPC went as far as releasing a statement via its verified Twitter handle (@NNPCgroup) where it made it clear that it had well over one billion litres of fuel in stock.
The statement was signed by the NNPC Group Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, it stated that there was no need for panic buying. The NNPC also added that it was also unnecessary to hoard fuel at this time as there is no scarcity.
In a statement title that read ’55 Depots Nationwide Stocked with Products, says @NNPCgroup,’ the NNPC advised motorists and other petroleum products consumers not to engage in panic buying as there is enough petroleum products stock in 55 depots across the country.
In another Tweet, the NNPC wrote, ” @NNPCgroup has once again appealed to Nigerians to disregard trending social media report of an impending fuel scarcity due to a purported refusal by some oil marketers to lift products from depots.”
Ughamadu maintained that the stories are fabricated by mischief makers in the country who seek to stir unnecessary panic to disrupt the sanity in the fuel supply and distribution mix across the country.
In addition to having over 1 billion litres of petrol in stock, the NNPC added that imports of 48 vessels of 50 million litres each have been committed for the month of April 2019 alone.
At the time of writing this, the pump price of petrol remains N145 per litre. The NNPC confirmed this price, thus, eliminating all rumours of a looming increase in the cost of fuel.