DIEZANI MADUEKE's LAST MINUTE INTERVENTION FAILS TO AVERT FUEL CRISIS. PRODUCT NOW SELLS FOR N110 AS SCARCITY BITES HARDER

Despite the intervention of Petroleum Minister to avert fuel crisis by meeting Oil marketers, the obvious reality is now here with us. Long queues have surfaced at filling stations across the country with some buying fuel as high as N110 as against the original price of N87.

The latest development is blamed on failure of Federal Government  to pay subsidy claim to fuel importers. The fall in the value of naira have not also helped situation and because of this some oil marketers in the country have reduced the stock of petrol they supply to the market. They have moved to constrain product supply in order to minimise the loses that might occur if the arrears were further delayed as a result of uncertainties surrounding the forthcoming general elections.

The subsidy arrears continued to rise just as interest on loans borrowed from banks by the marketers to finance fuel importation. Despite the recent reduction in the pump price of petrol from N97 to N87 per litre, the Federal Government, according to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, still pays a subsidy of N14.77 per litre of petrol as of February 19, 2015.