Motorists, commuters lament as fuel scarcity bites harder in Ibadan
It was all lamentation, yesterday, for motorists and commuters as the lingering scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), across the country, bit harder in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The scarcity made thousands of motorists, both private and commercial, to spend several hours queuing in petrol stations in desperation to get the commodity.
Some mega petrol stations like Total and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which were selling at the fixed price of N162 per litre, had longer queues, while queues at petrol stations selling for between N195 and N200 per litre were lesser.
The queues were more visible in city centres like Iwo Road, Ojo and Mokola RoundAbout, while transportation fares have gone up across the state.
For Instance, transport fare, which used to be N100 from Iwo Road to Ojo has gone up to N150.
Some commercial drivers who spoke to The Guardian blamed the hike in prices on the high cost of the product in the black market.
Motorists and commuters expressed frustration that they had to pay more to get the product when Nigeria is an oil producing nation.
They lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government is adding injury to the challenges of already traumatised Nigerians.
A motorist, Mukaila Abayomi, who spoke with The Guardian at SAO Filling Station , Sango, lamented that apart from paying higher to get the fuel, touts have also taken over the entrances of many of petrol stations in the state, where they charged between N100 and N200 before allowing people to enter.
A hairdresser at Challenge Bus Stop said he spent several hours on queue at one of the filing stations just to buy 5 litres of fuel to run his generating set.
Also, Jide Aina , who was commuting from Moniya area to Bodiya, expressed frustration over the scarcity of PMS.
According to him, he thought that the scarcity has subsided but with what he witnessed yesterday, it appears that there is no respite in sight.
“Transportation fare is becoming something else. All the commercial buses, especially Micra Car operators refused to collect N50 fare due to the fuel crisis.
“We appeal to President Buhari to quickly intervene in the situation,” he added.
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