Queues surface in Lagos amid efforts to recall ‘contaminated’ petrol in circulation

Many filling stations have shut down services in Lagos, causing long queues as buyers wait long hours to fill up their tanks with petroleum motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.

In some filling stations visited by TheCable on Tuesday morning, long queues were seen with no petrol attendant to attend to the customers. 

Along Awolowo road in Ikoyi, filling stations were closed as customers queue endlessly, causing gridlock. 

Around Ozumba Mbadwe on the Victoria Island, Ardova Plc, Total all shut down with only Mobil filling station attending to customers with a long queue. 

The situation is the same around Ikeja, Ogba axis with Con Oil, Quest and Enyo stations refusing to sell petrol.

Sources said the current petrol scarcity experienced in some parts of Lagos is a result of efforts to recall ‘contaminated products’ in circulation.

In a video circulating online, a petrol attendant was seen complaining about how adulterated petrol supplied to the station is damaging motorists’ cars and motorcycle engines.

 

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According to a report by Guardian, sources attributed the situation to the importation of high content of methanol and ethanol, which are not part of the country’s petrol specification.

When contacted, Garba Deen Muhammad, the spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, dismissed the reports of adulterated petrol in circulation. 

Muhammad said the regulator would issue an official statement concerning the issue.

When contacted, Ayorinde Cardoso, zonal operations controller, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Lagos, declined on the matter.

NMDPRA is an agency responsible for the regulation of the midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria, including technical, operational, and commercial activities.