Nigeria’s finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has blamed the ongoing fuel crisis on “disruption of pipelines and logistical issues”, apparently invalidating earlier reasons given by the government agency responsible for pricing and regulation of petroleum products.

The minister also contradicted the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, which accused the opposition All Progressives Congress of compelling marketers to either divert or refuse to sell petrol to embarrass the government.

At a news briefing Tuesday, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala strongly denied any link between the scarcity that has left long queues at filling stations across the country, and a failure by the government to pay fuel marketers — a reason given by the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA. “I want to emphasize that contrary to some unfounded speculations, the queues are not caused by payment issues,” Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala said.

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