Nigeria’s National Oil Company, NNPC, attributed the queues for fuel that was experienced in the country’s Federal Capital Territory yesterday to the curfew imposed in some states in the country which has hindered the distribution of petroleum products across the country.

Long fuel queues at retail stations caused traffic in some parts of the Territory as some filling stations were out of fuel and others were attending to large crowds. Black marketers were seen close to filling stations and along the roads selling fuel for between N200 and N250 per litre.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation cautioned the public against panic buying as it noted the country currently has over 2 billion litres of petrol in its depots across the country which can last for over two months. He reiterated the Corporation’s commitment to the abolishment of fuel scarcity which leads to long queues at retail stations.

In a statement signed on Wednesday by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Dr Kennie Obateru, the Corporation assured that the situation will be brought under control in a few days.

He said, “The disruptions or curtailment of free flow of vehicular movement occasioned by the EndSARS protests and the attendant curfews and restrictions and vandalism, particularly in Lagos, must have affected petroleum products supply.

“With the easing of the curfews and restriction of movement by various state governors, normalcy is expected to return to the petroleum products supply chain in the next couple of days.

“There is no need for panic-buying. Rest assured that the NNPC has over 2 billion litres of premium motor spirit (petrol) in stock to guarantee steady supply and at least 60 -day-product supply sufficiency to the entire country.”