Off-spec blues: Motorists incur unplanned expenses as business booms for mechanics

The scenes were chaotic at filling stations that Saturday morning. Motorists were honking without restraint as they queued bumper to bumper in the blazing sun.

As the queues got longer, black marketers preyed on the situation. Displaying jerrycans with accompanying hoses, they surrounded busy routes and filling stations, also milling around the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Towers in Abuja.

Petrol costs N200 per litre in remote parts of the federal capital territory (FCT) where there aren’t many filling stations. But with the scarcity, it took luck to get a litre for N400.

Many were unlucky; they bought a litre of black market petrol for as high as N500. The time of the day also played a role in the price; more expensive in the evenings, less expensive in the mornings.

Aside from the over 100 percent price hike, there was a bigger problem: vehicles in Abuja were paying more visits to mechanics.

HOW IT STARTED

On February 8, 2022, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said it found methanol above national specification in imported petrol. Amid efforts to remove the contaminated product from circulation, long queues surfaced at filling stations.

TheCable had reported that the off-spec petrol was imported from Antwerp, Belgium, by four direct sales direct purchase (DSDP) suppliers — MRS, Oando, Emadeb Consortium, and Duke Oil, a subsidiary of NNPC.

Days later, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, an oil marketer, denied being involved in the importation of the off-spec petrol, setting off a flurry of denials and accusations.

HOW IT IS GOING

As the government and the oil majors engaged in a back-and-forth on where the buck stops, scarcity worsened across major cities, while motorists were nursing additional headaches.

Vehicles that were previously in good condition suddenly developed faults, warranting many-a-visit to the mechanic workshop.

Business boomed for Abuja’s popular Apo mechanic village as it played host to several vehicles affected by the off-spec petrol.

‘PETROL IN CIRCULATION IS DIRTY’

Sunday Ojo is one of the go-to specialists for automobile issues in Apo mechanic village.

Before the off-spec petrol got into circulation, Ojo hardly opened his workshop before 10am, but nowadays, he resumes two hours earlier.

“I need to leave my house by 6:30am so as to be here by 8am these days. I have many cars waiting for me here. I can tell you that before you finish this interview, I will receive calls from clients because their cars would be suffering from the bad petrol,” he said.

Ojo said he has worked mainly on damaged petrol pumps, injector nozzles and car engine problems in the last few weeks.

“I can tell you very well that the petrol in circulation is so dirty and water-filled. And you know, the petrol is lighter than the dirt and the water, so we will need to change the petrol pump completely, filter the nozzles and wash the tank,” he added.

According to the mechanic, for a 2005 Honda Accord, it costs N15,000 to buy a new petrol pump with the casing, and N7,000 without casing, while he would also charge between N15,000 and N20,000 for his services.

‘I NOTICED THE CAR WAS JERKING’

Sule Abba is one of Ojo’s customers. On February 12, it took six hours for him to get petrol at a filling station along Lugbe Airport road.

Abba filled up his tank and “offered a bribe” to get 20 litres of petrol in a keg for his wife’s car. Two days later, his car refused to start — and the same happened to his wife’s car.

“I turned on the ignition, and it was jerking while trying to drive out. The car kept misbehaving till Sunday came around. The two cars have been towed to Apo now,” he said, exuding frustration.

According to Ojo, checks on the vehicles revealed that the petrol had water content — and Abba had to cough up N110,000 for the repairs.

‘I DIDN’T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY AT FIRST’

Yekeen Nasir, another Abuja resident, had spent a futile night trying to get petrol at a filling station in Lugbe before he gave in and bought 10-litre black market petrol in Garki.

After the purchase, he drove the car to the office. But at the time of filing this report, the car has refused to move from the position it was parked since February 10. 

“I really did not take it seriously at first. I tried starting it and it didn’t respond. I called my mechanic in Apo and the first thing he asked me was if I bought petrol recently at any filling station. When I told him I bought at black market because of the scarcity, he was just laughing and he simply told me my petrol pump might be damaged,” he said.

Yekeen said when the mechanic later checked the car, he was told it would cost him N45,000 to repair. 

“I am broke for now. I am not sure when the car will be fixed. But for now, I am seriously regretting ever thinking of buying the black market petrol. My mechanic had to do some checks on it and realised that the last petrol I bought was full of water,” Yekeen told TheCable.

‘MY CAR WENT UP IN FLAMES’

On February 17, a Twitter user, with the username @MaaziHashem, tweeted a video showing how his car went up in flames after allegedly purchasing black market petrol in Gwarimpa, Abuja.

The tweet, which has garnered over 16,000 likes, 6,000 retweets and 600 comments, ended with “be careful out there guys”.

One of the comments under the tweet was by an individual with the username, @timosilver, who said after he purchased N15,000 worth of petrol from a filling station in Kubwa, his car stopped abruptly around Gwarimpa gate.

Too bad your had to burn.. I'm still trying to solve mine… i went to buy fuel and bought gbese.. the car wont start.. drained all the fuel and bought another type.. still.. pic.twitter.com/gUNhixBMmZ

— Duke of Umuhu 🇳🇬🇺🇲🇬🇧 (@timosilver) February 17, 2022

“Some guys helped to push it to the roadside as it just wouldn’t start. I called my mechanic. He tried his best but it still wouldn’t start. So, we got a towing van to tow the vehicle to his workshop. The mechanic continued trying fuel things and running some checks with his device and later arrived at bad fuel,” @timosilver explained in a message sent to TheCable.

“It was combusting. We drained the entire fuel, cleaned the nozzles, replaced the spark plugs and the coils. I later bought 10-litre fuel from the roadside, tested the fuel to ensure it’s a good fuel, added injector cleaner to the fuel, and the issue was solved.”

The motorist said he spent over N50,000 to fix the vehicle.