Long queues persist at filling stations in Akwa Ibom as cash crunch bites

Long queues have continued at filling stations in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State with petrol being sold at N450 per litre by independent marketers as the fuel crisis appears to have defied all solutions amidst deepening cash crunch crisis

According to checks, most of the independent marketers within the state capital have closed their filling stations claiming not to have the product with only one or two marketers selling petrol at between N450 and N500 per litre.

Along Abak road in Uyo, the state capital where one of the major marketers has a filling station, the queue was so long that it snaked up to two kilometres with the entire stretch of road blocked to traffic.

Read also: Protest rocks Ondo over fuel, naira scarcity

It was not immediately clear whether the scarcity of fuel being experienced in the state was due to the suspension of operations by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) which had crippled petroleum distribution nationwide.

According to the check, the price of petrol has been increasing astronomically almost on a daily basis, from N350 per litre which it was sold last week to the present price of N450 per litre and may likely continue to price, according to observers.

The high cost of petrol comes on the heels of the cash crunch which has seen many people also spending hours at banks and not being able to make transactions due to a large crowd of customers.

In some of the banks, customers were allowed to withdraw only a limited amount of cash while some of the banks did not open for customers claiming that their servers were done.

According to a notice by one of the banks in Uyo, customers were advised to make their transactions in any of their branches within the state capital attributing the closure to server issues.

“Please be informed that the branch is not open to customers for transactions due to server issues, you can make your transactions in any of our branches, we are sorry for the inconvenience,’’ the statement stated.

The check further showed that the high cost of fuel and the crisis over the new naira notes have affected small businesses in the state with transport fares being increased accordingly