Following the reduction in the pump price of petrol by the Dangote Refinery, motorists in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have urged the company to increase the number of its partner retail outlets to make the product more readily available in the nation’s capital.
Dangote Refinery last week announced MRS Oil as its partner retail outlet, mandated to dispense petrol at N739 per litre nationwide.
With NNPC Retail outlets selling petrol at N835 per litre, TotalEnergies at N920, Conoil at N910, Eterna at N889, and AYM Sharfa at N840, MRS stations have become the major source of cheaper petrol for motorists and consumers.
However, checks around Abuja city centre and surrounding areas revealed that there are very few MRS retail outlets in the FCT.
At Katampe, along the AYA–Gaduma–Asokoro Road, the MRS station in the area was observed not to display its pump price, while queues have persisted since Dangote announced the price reduction. It was gathered that the station does not sell petrol beyond 7:00 p.m. daily.
Along the Nyanya–Karshi Road, there are three MRS outlets, with only one dispensing petrol at N739 per litre. The other two continued selling at N910 per litre as of Tuesday.
Speaking to Vanguard at the MRS station along Airport Road, where pumps have been adjusted to N739 per litre, a civil servant, George Anosike, noted that MRS stations are too few in Abuja.
“MRS stations are very few in Abuja, and with other filling stations selling above N800 per litre, Dangote can help the masses by increasing the number of stations selling its petrol,” he said.
“You can see that there is only a small queue here, but if more filling stations sell at this price, more people will enjoy the Dangote bonanza,” he added.
Another motorist, Joachim Jimbiri, also said expanding the number of partner stations would make Dangote petrol more accessible to consumers.
“This is when we are beginning to see the real benefits of the Dangote Refinery. Two months ago, when petrol rose to N970 per litre, it was very difficult to accept because that was not what Aliko Dangote promised. Nigerians want the refinery to succeed, but we must benefit from cheaper petrol,” he said.
“Petrol should not cost more than N500 per litre in this country. We have abundant crude oil and now a functional refinery. These two factors should make petrol very cheap,” he added