The scarcity of petroleum product across the country bites citizens hard.

The fuel scarcity being witnessed in Kano State has made many petrol stations to increase their pump price from N97 per litre to between N110 and N120.

In major parts of Kano, on Friday, only a few petrol stations sold petrol at the official price of N97, causing them to have long vehicular queues.

Some stations closed their gates despite having petroleum products.

There were also allegations that some stations were selling to illegal marketers to maximise profit.

Illegal marketers in Kano were exploiting the situation by increasing their price from N550 for a four-litre gallon to between N700 and N750, thereby selling at about N170 per litre.

Motorists alleged that the fuel scarcity and price increase was caused by the marketers.

When contacted, the Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria in Kano, Bashir Bello, said Kano residents are lucky to have the product.

‘’Let them go to Abuja or Lagos and see what is happening, they will commend our members for making effort to provide the commodity in the state, ’’ he said.

According to him, there are many marketers whose petrol tankers spend three months in Lagos without getting the commodity.

“People should stop accusing us and let them find out the cause of the scarcity from the authorities concerned, ’’ he said.

NAN