The double impact of fuel scarcity and electricity outage is biting harder on Nigerians, leaving millions struggling to keep up with their daily activities and businesses.
The fuel scarcity that hit Lagos, Abuja and other cities across the country last week is yet to be resolved as Nigerians continue to queue for hours at petrol stations to buy fuel.
This happened as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) in a statement on Tuesday evening said it had commenced 24-hour operations at its depots and retail outlets to restore normal supply and distribution of petrol across the country.
The corporation said it has over a billion litres of petrol that is safe for use in vehicles and machinery as of Tuesday.
The statement read, “NNPC Ltd wishes to reassure Nigerians that it has put adequate measures in place to accelerate the nationwide distribution of PMS earlier disrupted by the quarantine of methanol-blended petrol.
“The quarantine was a necessary step to safeguard our customers from the potential impact of this PMS grade on vehicles and machinery.
“As of today, NNPC has over One (1) billion liters of certified PMS stock that is safe for use in vehicles and machinery.
“To accelerate distribution across the country, we have commenced 24-hour operations at our Depots and Retail outlets.
“As part of NNPC’s strategic restocking, over 2.3 billion litres of PMS is scheduled for delivery between now and the end of February 2022, which will restore the sufficiency level above the national target of 30 days.
Read also: Dirty fuel importation: Matters arising
Amidst the continuing scarcity, several resident districts in Abuja and Lagos reported electricity outages.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) said in a message to customers on Wednesday: “Dear Customer, please note that the interruptions of electricity supply you are currently experiencing is due to the instability of supply from the National Grid due to low Generation.”
“We appeal to you to be patient as all stakeholders are working hard to restore system stability. For enquiries, call 08039070070,” the message read.
In a similar statement to customers, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), which is responsible for parts of Lagos, said on its official twitter handle, ” Dear customer, the present outage on Agbara 33KV Feeder is due to an accident along Badagry Express Road damaging 19 of our poles.”
It said the affected areas are Isashi, Igboelerin, Church and environs.
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