Motorists and commuters in Abuja and its environs are experiencing severe fuel scarcity just few days after the governorship and state Houses of Assembly election.
According to Leadership, most filing stations in Abuja have shut their gates to the public, claiming to be out of the product.
The few which are opened for business reportedly seize the opportunity to extort money from motorists, charging N500 as gate fee before allowing people access into the station while they pay another N500 or N1,000, depending on the size of their car tanks, to have their tanks filled up.
The situation which has been described as an artificial scarcity has been worsened by the recent threats by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) to go on strike.
NUPENG has threatened to withdraw its services across the country if the current NASS fails to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law.
Petroleum Industry Bill which has caused so much controversy in the oil sector was first was first introduced to the National Assembly in 2009.
Since then it has suffered a number of setbacks. The delays have been on account of diverse interests scrutinising its provisions. Amongst these are the interests of legislators from the country’s North pitted against those of their Southern counterpart.
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