Yuletide: ATMs, fuel scarcity mar celebrations

* Fuel scarcity easing in Lagos as fun seekers shun N’Theatre
* Osinbajo: NNPC, not FG, bears cost do subsidy
* Our depots empty, we’re not hoarding fuel-marketers

The combination of fuel scarcity and the inability of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to dispense cash to bank customers have prevented some Nigerians from marking the Yuletide celebrations, especially the Boxing Day on Tuesday.

The Boxing Day, which is a unique day after Christmas, is usually celebrated with fanfare as families and friends use the occasion to visit their loved ones and exchange gifts.

It is interesting to note that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has recently announced that Nigeria, which has been reeling under recession since late 2015, has exited from the negative trend.

Nigerians, from across the country and in the Diaspora, heaved a sigh of relief. To them, the recession and its associated pains, pangs, has after all become a thing of the past; and they could look into the future with optimism.

But barely two weeks to this year’s Christmas came the hydra headed fuel crisis.

To Nigerians’ chagrin, the scarcity of petroleum which was initially noticed in Lagos and Abuja, soon spread across the country, leaving in its wake, hike in the prices of petroleum products, particularly, Petroleum Motor Spirit( PMS); transport fares, thus leaving commuters stranded, while also impacting negatively on businesses and homes.

In spite of government assurances that the crisis would be addressed as soon as possible, the managers of the nation’s petroleum industry sub-sector, the minister of state for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, could not do so, as the crisis assumed a worsening proportion, leading to long queues, black marketeering and other socio-economic challenges.

But reports from Lagos and other parts of the country, showed that the fuel crisis seems to be easing as at Tuesday. Investigations by our correspondents indicate that long queues and crowds that usually characterized some of the fuel stations in the past one week, are fast thinning out, with some motorists driving into the filing stations and attended to within few minutes.

At the Oando Petrol Station along Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, NNPC outlets along Lagos- Abeokuta Expressway, and elsewhere across the nation, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel as motorists were able to buy fuel with ease. It is expected that by the end of the week, Nigerians could begin to say Uhuru.

But for many Nigerians, this year’s Yuletide is that of mixed feelings.
Some Nigerians also claimed that the experience was that of bleak Christmas celebration.

One area which some Nigerians have expressed frustration is the banking sector. Some said they had issues with some of the banks’ Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as the machines could not dispense cash.

Bank customers in Lagos, Ogun State and Oyo states , among many other states in the country and Abuja, faced different challenges associated to transactions failure at various ATMs points during the national public holidays, as the machines became cashless.

In our fact findings, our correspondents observed that the ATMs of most of the commercial banks before closure for the holidays, witnessed mammoth crowd in their different banking halls and ATM galleries.

Visits by our correspondents to several banks in most parts of Lagos over the weekend y showed that long queues had become a common sight at their ATM points.

Customers preparing for Christmas and New Year festivities, findings showed, were busy withdrawing cash from the ATMs to buy food items, dresses, decorations and other things needed to make the Yuletide an exciting experience but many got frustrated and went home disappointed.

In separate interviews, bank customers who spoke to our correspondent, said, “I need to prepare for the Christmas; I have come to withdraw some cash for my wife to get some dresses for the children but I can no longer continue with this long queue.”

Another bank customer at one of the new generation banks in Ijaiye, a suburb of Lagos, was not in any way different, as desperate customers were seen at the bank and other banks in the area, including other banks in the area.
Our further checks on Christmas and Boxing Day were a bit different from the experience recorded before the festival, as bank customers now complain of cash dispensation, which they believed was because their various banks failed to load the ATMs with fresh cash.

Similar situation was observed at various ATM centres in Apogbon, Ilupeju, Agege, Ogba, Iyana Ipaja, Abule-Egba, Alakuko, Ikeja, Magodo and Ojodu in Lagos.
But bank customers told our correspondent that they were happy that the long queues at the filling stations have reduced significantly. They were ,however, surprised to see that virtually all the ATM machines were not dispensing cash.

A security man in one of the generation banks, who pleaded anonymity, said the situation was made worse by most Nigerians withdrawing cash to travel to their home towns for the Yuletide.

A business man, Richard Adekunle, said: “I am here to withdraw money for the family needs, but I cannot; it is frustrating indeed. It is sad that we are still experiencing this kind of situation. It is important that the banks deploy robust technologies for e-banking
“Let banks bring in robust technology that will boost the e-banking business to eliminate the embarrassment and frustration that their clients are subjected to, especially during public holidays and weekends.”

Linking the current state of the Nigerian economy to the massive withdrawal during the holiday, a professor of Economics at the University of Uyo, Leo Ukpong, said the impact of the recession would be felt after the Yuletide, pointing out that most bank customers were withdrawing cash from the savings they had made for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Apart from the banking sector issue over the ATM points, which became noticeable during the celebrations, other areas, including entertainment industry, parks, were negatively affected by the fuel crisis.

For example, the National Theatre Complex in Iganmu, Lagos, was on Tuesday devoid of the usual Boxing Day buzzing activities, as only few fun seekers were seen at the monument.

It was further gathered that there was little to suggest that Boxing Day was taking place in the premises, as the usual carnival-like atmosphere was absent.

Also, only handful of people were seen in the open ground overlooking the theatre as well as other spots around the premises. Patronage was low for restaurants and kiosk owners, as they waited on end for customers. A couple of families were seen eating and drinking in some of the restaurants.

A bar owner in the premises, Mr. Clement Duru, complained of low patronage, saying that business was not good owing to low number of visitors. Duru also blamed the situation on scarcity of petrol pervading every part of the country.

He said that the situation prevented many people from going out to have fun that usually characterised the second day of Christmas.

He said, “My brother, business is really bad today. People are not coming to the theatre to celebrate Christmas and Boxing Day this year. Of course, the petrol crisis is the major cause, coupled with the nation’s economic issues. Things are just too low here,’’
Duru said that he has not recorded 20 per cent of what he normally made during Yuletide period owing to the situation.
A fun seeker, Mr. Simeon Akinboboye, said that he did not get as much fun as he would have loved to get at the theatre. Akinboboye said he was disappointed that he did not see many people coming for fun at the complex this year.

He blamed the situation on petrol crisis, saying that many fun seekers preferred to stay indoors to avoid the stress of coming to the theatre.
“The whole place is dry. It is not as it used to be. Obviously, it is the fuel problem. People don’t have fuel to go out,” he added.

In her own comment, Mrs. Ngozi Emmanuel, said her family decided to come to have fun in spite of the petrol crisis. Emmanuel said that she enjoyed the atmosphere as it was not as rowdy as it used to be, adding it was good for her kind of nature.

According to her, the fuel situation probably prevented many fun seekers from coming out, especially those coming from far distances. “Though, turn out is low, it is still okay. I have fun,’’ Emmanuel added.

Another fun seeker, who simply identified himself as Austin, urged the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to the persistent petrol scarcity, especially during the festive period. He said that this would allow Nigerians to move about without stress during festive period.

But clearing the air on who bears the cost of subsidy on petrol, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) bears the cost of fuel subsidy and not the Federal Government.

NAN reports that the vice-president clarified this on Monday, while answering questions from journalists after visiting the Oando and Total depot in Apapa, Lagos.

Osinbajo said, “NNPC is trading in fuel; the Federal Government is not, at the moment, paying for any subsidy. NNPC is trading.

“If you are buying and selling fuel, you would have to be able to pay for it. So, it’s not a question of government provision for subsidy, the federal government, at the moment, isn’t paying any subsidy.

“And don’t forget that the way that the NNPC trades is that, in many cases, NNPC is actually giving fuel; there is 445,000 barrels of fuel.

“So, really, what you are seeing, in many cases, is more or less an exchange for PMS. So, at the moment, NNPC is paying the cost.”

While speaking at a press briefing on Sunday, the NNPC group managing director, ADR Maikanti Baru, had said that the landing cost of petrol is now N171 as against the official retail price of N145.

Sequel to President Muhammadu Buhari’s order on any one found hoarding petrol, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), has said that its members’ depots are empty, insisting that they are not hoarding fuel and are therefore not responsible for the crippling fuel crisis.

In a statement signed by its executive secretary, Olufemi Adewole, the DAPPMA said there are bound to be issues when the NNPC takes on the role of “sole importer” in the prevailing situation.
The association said, “It is on record that any time NNPC assumes the role of sole importer, there are issues of distribution, because it is marketers who own 80 percent of the functional receptive facilities and retail outlets in Nigeria.

“Historically, DAPPMA members imported about 65 percent of the nation’s total fuel consumption. Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) imports about 15 percent and PPMC/NNPC imports the balance of 20 percent.

“However this scenario changed drastically due to several challenges faced by marketers.
“Our members’ depots are presently empty. However, if the PPMC/NNPC can provide us with petrol, we are ready to do 24-hour loading to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians and for the fuel queues to be totally eliminated.”

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the association said its members would have to rely on subsidy to import fuel because the landing cost of petrol is already above N145 per litre.

According to the association, about 800 million litres of petrol have been ordered and paid for without it being programmed or loaded.

It said, “Sadly, some people have blamed marketers for hoarding products. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.

“Hoarding is regarded as economic sabotage and we assure all Nigerians that our members are not involved in such illicit act.
“We, petroleum products marketers, do empathise with all Nigerians who are going through difficulties at this time by spending hours on fuel queues because of the current fuel scarcity due to no fault of theirs.”

As Nigerians look up to the New Year with greater optimism, the association said the nation’s leaders must at least for once give them something to cheer.

No respite in Abuja

Meanwhile the scarcity of petrol has continued unabated despite concerted efforts by the government to restore normalcy in the supply of the petroleum products in the country.
While Lagos and other major cities in the countries have seen respite in the supply and availability of petroleum in most dispensing stations on Tuesday, the situation in Abuja appeared very different as most filling stations were either shutdown or with long queues.
Few days before the Christmas, the situation became very tense as most people spend days on queues scampering fuel for their vehicles.

When one our correspondents went round some filling stations in Abuja, the queues had dramatically disappeared due to non-availability of the product.
Some popular dispensing stations visited in Wuse 2, Maitama, Central Business District Area were empty and when our correspondent sought explanation on why they were not selling fuel, the attendants simply said they had exhausted their products two days ago and awaiting fresh supply of the product.

One of the attendants at Forte Oil filling station in Maitama who craved anonymity, said that their product finished on Sunday, adding that they were told that they would get fresh supply on Christmas. She ,however, stated that the filling station was yet to receive any supply as at Tuesday.
But the Daily Times checks showed that most of the filling stations along Kubwa Expressway were dispersing the product to motorists while the queues were endless.

For the Airport Road in Abuja, the situation was not different as long queues took over one part of the road while some of the motorists were seen fighting one another in a bid to get fuel.

One of the motorists, Mr Iliya Dauda, said that he had been on the queue since 12 am on Christmas Day. He also lamented that it took him almost 20 hours before he could fill his tank.

He also appealed to the federal government to find a quick solution to the fuel crisis, saying that if the situation is not addressed before the resumption of work on Wednesday, most workers may not be able to go to work due to high cost of transportation.

Ganiyu Obaaro, Motolani Oseni, Joy Ekeke, Lagos and Mathew Dadiya, Abuja