Black marketers sell a four-litre gallon of fuel at N6,000 or higher, depending on demand and location.
Motorists and irrigation farmers are counting their losses in Kano and neighbouring Jigawa State following weeks of fuel scarcity that led to exorbitant prices being charged by filling stations across the states.
PREMIUM TIMES correspondent monitored the situation in both states between Monday and Friday and saw residents struggling to get fuel to meet their routine needs.
While petrol sells above N1,000 per litre in some stations, motorists in long queues struggle for the product at the few stations that have it, especially the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) outlets.
At the NNPCL outlets selling the product at N620 per litre, some motorists and irrigation farmers lamented that they spent days in the queues.
In Kano, the commercial hub of Northern Nigeria, the scarcity has crippled socio-economic activities as a major route into the state, Zaria road, was on Thursday blocked by vehicles whose owners had queued at the NNPCL outlet along the route.
PREMIUM TIMES observed that some major township roads in the metropolis were deserted as people abandoned their cars due to the fuel scarcity and exorbitant prices charged by filling stations.
Some residents, including students of higher institutions and high schools, opted for trekking due to the dearth of commercial tricycles and other vehicles, with the few on the roads charging higher fares.
Black marketers were selling a four-litre gallon of petrol at N6,000 or higher on Thursday, depending on demand and location.
A motorist, Umar Ibrahim of Fagge quarters, told PREMIUM TIMES that he spent an hour at a filling station at Abdullahi Bayero Road to buy petrol at N700 per litre on Wednesday but didn't get it.
"A few hours after I left the queue in disappointment, I learnt that the station managers sold the product at above N700 to black marketers at night. The display of N700 as the official price of the station is just a gimmick as the station managers targeted their sales at black marketers only at this time, not routine buyers like myself," Mr Ibrahim lamented.
Another resident of Fagge quarters, Shehu Umar, told PREMIUM TIMES Friday morning that petrol was selling at N1,070 per litre at ABY filing station at IBB way in the Kano metropolis.
Mr Umar said because of the exorbitant charges, there was no queue at the station as only a few buyers went in to buy.
Another resident, who gave his name only as Scorer, said the government should sanction filing stations charging high prices, describing them as wicked Nigerians.
"The federal government should sanction those wicked Nigerians selling petrol above N1,000 because they are the ones crippling socio-economic activities in the state and making people lose," Scorer said.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Jigawa State, Auwalu Sani, on Thursday, told PREMIUM TIMES how he spent two days in a queue, accusing the NNPCL station managers in Dutse of giving preferential treatment to some buyers.
"I spent two days here (at the NNPC mega station in Dutse). Some people who came today got fuel but we who have been here for over two days are yet to get fuel. Some of them are government officials, others are black marketers recognised by the station managers who you cannot challenge.
"At Awajil and Kankani, filling stations are selling at above N1,000 per litre because the NNPCL outlets are not many in the town and they are selling it to people they prefer," Mr Sani said.
The Secretary of Partnership for Inclusion of Local Governance, a non-governmental organisation, Ahmad Illalah, said the scarcity was affecting rice farming in Jigawa
"Jigawa as the largest rice producer in Nigeria is currently facing a historic poor production as a result of higher cost of petrol and its scarcity," he wrote on Facebook.
He stated that a litre of petrol was selling for between N1,000 and N1,500 on the black market.
"In some local government areas like Guri and Kirkasamma, (in the far east of the state) the price is beyond that," Mr Illalah said.
"The rice farmers are in dangerous condition now as a result of this crisis, many of them have started counting losses.
"If we can recall there are many complaints of the recent wheat farming, as a result of poor production due to the climate change that troubles the system.
"The worst of it is most of the farmers are farming on credit, and most of the credit is informal.
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"These farmers need urgent intervention from the government in this critical situation," Mr Illalah warned.
A farmer, Ahmadu Rufai, said he had to take his water pumping machine to the filing station before he could get fuel a day after he was supposed to wet his rice farm.
"I am supposed to wet my farm twice a week but with the current scarcity I have to abandon a portion of the farm because I cannot get enough fuel because of the price and scarcity," Mr Rufai told PREMIUM TIMES.
The water pumps being used by farmers like Mr Rufai need petrol to be powered.
The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Kano chapter, Gana Girigire, in an interview with radio stations in Kano blamed the NNPCL for the petrol scarcity
He said it is not the fault of IPMAN, saying the organisation sent over 100 trucks to various centres to buy fuel but the commodity was not available.
The NNPCL, currently the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria, has blamed the scarcity on logistic challenges but said it has resolved the problems and the scarcity would be over soon.
