As fuel consumption plummets across the nation amid skyrocketing prices, oil marketers are voicing alarm over severe losses, with approximately 10,000 oil dealers facing imminent closure.
According to data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, fuel consumption plummeted to 4.5 million litres per day in August 2024, a staggering decrease from 60 million litres per day in May 2023—a dramatic 92 percent drop.
The data further reveals that only 16 out of 36 states received fuel from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in August, resulting in widespread shortages.
Since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the fuel subsidy in May 2023, petrol prices have skyrocketed by approximately 488 percent, climbing from N175 to over N1,000 by October 2024.
These relentless price increases have placed immense strain on the economy, hiking transport costs and exacerbating inflation, as struggling Nigerians voice their frustrations over the escalating hardships. The situation has compelled many motorists to forsake their vehicles in favor of public transportation.
The national leadership of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria has stated that the decline in fuel consumption has inflicted substantial losses on the association, with around 10,000 of its members on the verge of shutting down.
Dr. Joseph Obele, the National Public Relations Officer of PETROAN, noted that the cost of a truckload of PMS has surged from N7 million to N47 million over the past 16 months.
“Three days ago, there was a meeting at the national headquarters of PETROAN. At the meeting, there was, an indication that about 10,000 of our members would quit business in the next 45 days because their trading capital had been severely affected,” Obele stated.
He claimed that the affected marketers had a total staff strength of about one million.
“That was why we wrote a letter to Mr President, dated October 21, requesting a grant of N100bn to save the affected marketers’ businesses from shutting down in the next few weeks.”
The President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, also confirmed that there had been a reduction in fuel consumption, adding that members of the union were equally affected.
He said, “There is a drop in consumption and the price of a truckload is higher now. So, we have reduced the quantity of fuel we buy. For instance, someone who bought 10 trucks before can only buy eight now. So, we haven’t been getting the right quantity that we are supposed to get. We sell only the little quantities we get.”
The leadership of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers said the inability of oil marketers to buy products had resulted in job losses for truck drivers and petrol station workers in the country.
In an interview with our correspondent, the NUPENG Secretary-General, Mr Afolabi Olawale, said, “The economy is not smiling at all. Many petrol station owners cannot even buy a single truckload, and this has affected our members. Those of them that are truck drivers hardly get loads to carry anymore. Many petrol stations have closed down and our members who are petrol station workers have lost their jobs.”
When asked to give the actual number of NUPENG members affected, Olawale said, “This is an unfolding situation. It’s evolving, so I may not be able to give you the actual number of people affected now because we have those in the informal and formal sectors. We have people in the upstream, downstream, and midstream. But I don’t have the statistics right here with me to give you.
“Though everybody is affected, those in the downstream are the most affected. It affects those in the downstream sector directly because they are truck drivers, station workers, and the representatives of the marketers at different depots.”
Obele said the hike in fuel price had also blocked the cross-border racketeering of the product.
