DPR supplies over 8m litres of petrol to ease fuel scarcity in Abuja

The Department of Petroleum Resources in Abuja said more than eight million litres of petroleum products were released from Suleja Depot on Sunday to address the challenge of fuel scarcity in Abuja.
The DPR spokesperson, Seidu Mohammed, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
Mohammed said the supply at the weekend, which was over 420 trucks, was the peak of supply to the Federal capital Territory.
The spokesperson, who said the average supply to the Federal Capital Territory was 7.5 million litres, added that the supply had to be increased to ensure that the city had more than enough.
According to him, the supply during the peak of the scarcity is between three and five million litres of petrol.
He said: “As you can see now that the situation has improved and the queue has almost disappeared in the city except for one or two filling stations, motorists can drive in and buy fuel at ease.”
Mohammed therefore assured the public of adequate supply of products, stressing that there was enough stock at the depot to take care of motorists.
He said the DPR had raised surveillance teams to monitor the situation and ensure that no marketer sold above pump price or under-dispense to motorists.
He called on the residents to report any suspected manipulation by fuel attendants at the stations to the appropriate authority.
He warned that any oil marketer who indulged in sharp practice would be sanctioned accordingly by the agency, by either being suspended or withdrawal of licence.
A News Agency of Nigeria check to some of the filling stations revealed queues were no longer as serious as they were last week.
The situation has eased off as motorists buy fuel without much struggle or waiting unduly before getting it.
The filling stations visited included Conoil and Total opposite NNPC Tower, NNPC Mega Station in Central Area as well as Mobil and Total on Wuse-Berger Road.
NAN recalled that long queues for fuel resurfaced in Abuja on February 26 as hundreds of motorists besieged the few filling stations that sold the products.
Many petrol stations, especially in the city centre, were shut to customers without any explanation as to why they were not selling.
Hundreds of motorists thronged few filling stations that sold the product, including the NNPC mega stations on Olusegun Obasanjo Way, Central Area and Zuba-Abuja Expressway.
Mohammed attributed the return of long queues to drop in the lifting of fuel by marketers due to unresolved issues with the Federal Government.
He said the government had, however, resolved the issue and the marketers had since resumed the supply of the products.