The current fuel shortage particularly in Lagos may worsen following technical fault that has forced the Satelite Depot to shut down, Leadership reports.
The depot reportedly broke down at the weekend, further weakening distribution efforts in the state.
The Chairman Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Satelite Depot, Mr Alamu Ayo speaking yesterday said “ As I speak with you now, the depot is not functional, it broke down a few days ago worsening distribution efforts of marketers”.
Ayo also claimed that another major petroleum depot in the state, Apapa Depot has no single product.
He said Satelite and Apapa depots are major products holding facilities for the South West but both of them had no fuel as at last week.
“I want to specifically tell you that throughout last week, combined capacity of the two depots were in no way able to serve Lagos.
We (Marketers) the whole of last week were given between 6-8 trucks daily as against 102-105 trucks in the past.
If we maintain that tempo, we will not have this long queues in Lagos, but the truth about the matter is that there is no product, and we are at the moment rationing what we have”.
He said that government entered into an MOU with the marketers in which they (Marketers) were assured of product availability by first week in May, so if the products arrive we will sell but for now there is nothing we can do.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said a total of 1,082 truck of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) were loaded and distributed nationwide on friday.
This is contained in the Daily PMS Supply and Distribution nationwide schedule.
“A total of 1,082 trucks (38,285,000 litres) were loaded from various NNPC and major marketers depots nationwide.
This was why i said last time that these obviously confused leaders should always get their facts right before making specific promises. it’s now obvious that the minister was lying last week when he promised emphatically that queues will disappear this week!