By Favour Goodness
The Federal Government and marketers have allayed fears of increase in the pump price of fuel and scarcity following continued mounting of queues in some of the cities and towns in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
This is even as the marketers have advised the Federal Government to proffer solutions to queues that are building up in some parts of the country before they snowball into major fuel crises in the country.
They include Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (PMAN), Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN). According to them, the queues surfacing in towns and cities are not caused by non-availability of petroleum products in the country, but due to denomination of charges paid on transportation of fuel coming into the country.
They urged the government to revert to the use of local currency for payment of vessels that are bringing fuel to Nigeria, adding that payment in dollars is having negative impacts on the operation of the companies in the downstream sub-sector.
This is just as the Group Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Garba Deen Muhammad said that the Federal Government is not planning to hike the official price of fuel.
