As Nigeria’s fuel crisis deepens, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has taken the unprecedented step of shutting down its petrol application portal, halting new orders for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). This decision comes as the state-owned company grapples with a significant backlog of unpaid fuel deliveries to independent marketers.
The NNPC portal is typically used by marketers to place bids and make payments for fuel, but independent marketers have reported that they can no longer access the platform to submit fresh orders. According to sources, marketers have waited for months after making payments, yet have not received their products. In particular, members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) disclosed that NNPC owes them billions of naira for fuel they have already paid for without receiving any supply in return.
IPMAN, whose members operate over 70 percent of filling stations across Nigeria, has expressed frustration with the situation. Some marketers revealed that NNPC had ceased loading fuel trucks for IPMAN members, especially following recent petrol price hikes. As a result, many marketers have been forced to turn to private depots, where they purchase fuel at higher rates, further straining both their operations and consumers.
The suspension of fresh orders, coupled with existing supply delays, has compounded the nation’s fuel scarcity, raising concerns about how long the crisis will persist.
