There was a mild scarcity of petrol in parts of Abuja and Nasarawa State on Sunday as motorists formed long queues in filling stations that had the product to sell.
Although no official reason was given as to why there were queues in the Federal Capital Territory and the neighbouring states, our correspondent observed that the number of people looking for petrol in some of the stations kept on increasing.
For instance, at the Nipco filling station at the Zuba end of the Kubwa-Zuba Expressway in the FCT, hundreds of motorists thronged the outlet in a bid to get petrol.
The filling station was jam-packed as motorists struggled to get petrol, while lengthy queues were seen outside the outlet.
In Dutse, a satellite town of Abuja, the few filling stations that sold the commodity on Sunday were also crowded as consumers formed multiple queues.
The two Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s mega stations on the Kubwa-Zuba Expressway also recorded long queues.
Some attendants stated that the queues could be as a result of panic-buying due to reports of a looming scarcity.
When contacted, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, told our correspondent that the queues were mainly as a result of panic-buying of petrol by motorists.
He explained that the rerun elections in parts of the country may have contributed to the mild scarcity as there was movement restriction on Saturday, adding that over 210 trucks had been dispatched on Sunday.
In a text message response to enquiries by our correspondent, Alegbe said, “It’s mostly panic-buying. Also, no dispatch was made from the Suleja depot yesterday (Saturday) due to restriction of movement for the rerun elections. Over 210 trucks have been dispatched today (Sunday).”