Fuel hits N300/litre as marketers halt loading over poll uncertainty

Oil marketers, on Tuesday, said many depots had stopped loading Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, due to the apprehension caused by the collation of results of the general elections across the country.

It was also gathered that while filling stations operated by major marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited were selling petrol between N194 and N200/litre, other outlets operated by independent marketers dispensed the product between N250 and N340/litre.

This was despite the insistence of the Federal Government that there was no approval for an increase in the pump price of petrol, coupled with the government’s demand that PMS should not be dispensed above the approved rate.

This, dealers said, was due to the fact that many depots had stopped loading PMS because of the apprehension being caused by the general elections and the collation of results from the process by the Independent National Electoral Commission.