The fear of the plan to remove fuel subsidy by the new government has caused upset in the supply chain, causing hoarding, price increases and scarcity across Nigeria.
The fuel pump price is now between N400 and N500 per litre in Edo and Delta, states as long queues on Tuesday morning, resurfaced in the few filling stations opened for business.
The sudden hike in fuel pump price and long queues followed President Bola Tinubu’s pronouncement removing fuel subsidy at his inauguration as Nigeria’s 16th president on Monday in Abuja.
In Edo and Delta most filling stations within Benin metropolis and Asaba Township, refused to open for business while the few filling stations dispensing fuel, are selling at prices ranging between N450 and N520 per litre.
In Benin the few filling stations which included NNPC mega station on the Sapele, Buvel, and ‘Madam 200’, were dispensing the petroleum product for prices ranging between N190 and N200, but with long queues.
The other few independent marketers, seen attending to customers, were selling for between N450 and N500, but also experienced long queues.
A motorist, Mrs Evelyn Boswell, said she had been to about four filling stations without success.
“I am worried because I need to pick up my children from school. If I can just get five litres, that will be enough to bring them from school.
“If the situation remains like this, they will have to stay at home until the product is available,” Boswell said.
Mr Johnson Ikpe, a motorist, said “nobody cares about the poor people in Nigeria. The scarcity has left us stranded. I can’t even get to my workplace. I am stranded.”
According to him, these filling stations have this product but they are hoarding it. Some of them who sold for between N200 and N210 on Monday morning, later sold for between N400 in the evening after the president’s speech.
Commercial bus drivers have also increased transport fares by 100 per cent depending on the routes.
In Asaba, Delta, motorists have appealed to the Federal Government to intervene and quickly resolve this emerging artificial fuel scarcity across the states of the federation.
Mr Andy Obi, however, described the removal of fuel subsidy as a good development, but noted the timing for the implementation was not good.
”We have not even recovered from the economic hardship occasioned by the impact of the introduction of the new naira notes and now removal of fuel subsidy is being implemented.
”I will appeal to the federal government to intervene in the pain of struggling to get fuel, not just getting but buying it at a very high rate,” he said.
On his part, Mrs Cynthia Eze, said, “I left my home since morning and I have visited about six different filling stations without any success of getting fuel to buy.
”I’m appealing to government for intervention because, it will be disastrous for the masses.”
Residents of Ebonyi decried the high cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as fuel, in the country.
Mr Darlington Okeke said panic buying was occasioned by the announcement by President Bola Tinubu, during his inaugural speech, of an end to subsidy regime.
Okeke stated that a pump price of fuel in filling stations was sold between N800 and N1,200, against N230.
Another resident, Mr Ibrahim Ali, said that black marketers sold a liter of fuel for N1,500.
Ali said the development was causing panic buying and frustration among residents.
He appealed to President Tinubu to address the situation to mitigate panic buying and arbitrary hoarding of the products, which marketers introduced after the announcement from the president.
In Enugu, residents expressed mixed reactions over the formal pronouncement of removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu.
Mr Steve Ofilli said the removal of subsidy was long overdue.
He said it required a bold leader like Tinubu to make official pronouncement on the matter.
He, however, urged the new administration to put in place measures to cushion the spiral effect.
“It takes a bold leader like Tinubu to remove the subsidy once and for all, but he must go ahead to put measures in place to cushion the effect, ” he said.
Also speaking, a Human Right Lawyer, Olu Omotayo, described oil subsidy issue as controversial and fundamental to the economic existence of Nigerians.
“To me the president ought to have first announced palliative measures that would follow the removal to assuage the feeling of Nigerians.
“Removal of oil subsidy has been an issue since the regime of Olusegun Obasabjo; so, it is an issue that supposed to have been handled gradually, ” he said.
Omotayo said the president would have gone ahead to announce at the same time measures the government had taken to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
Also speakung, Mr Sam Udekwe, Enugu State Council Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) blamed the current queues in the state on the announcement.
“Petrol is the economic base of Nigerians. It is the catalyst to the survival of Nigerian economy.
“It’s removal ought to have been gradual in order not to make Nigerians panic.
“You can imagine that as soon as the policy was announced, fuel queues resurfaced.
“We are yet to see the negative impact of the policy in the markets, ” he said.
Mrs Agnes Oforma, an economist and a lecturer at the Enugu College of Education, said the removal of subsidy was not a bad idea but the public announcement was suspect.
In Awka, Anambra capital, most filling stations in the state capital were closed while the few that were open sell at between N620 and N635 per liter.
Long queues have also returned in most filling stations owned by independent marketers while the major marketers were closed.
Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, the National Vice President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide expressed dismay at the development noting that it would worsen the plight of the masses.
According to him, that statement has been one of the cardinal campaign points of the new president.
Okeke-Ogene said that the benefit of the fuel subsidy removal remained tiny to the understanding of the public noting that its possibility and beneficial to the masses was not clear yet.
“We heard there are lots of fraud being perpetrated in the oil subsidy but the effort of its removal by past administration under President Goodluck Jonathan was opposed by the opposition party of All Progressives Congress (APC) then.
“President Buhari government did not remove the subsidy,I wonder the rush by Tinubu. The new President should have necessary plans in place to cushion any hardship as a result of this action,” he said.
Okeke –Ogene said that after the pronouncement that filling stations stopped dispensing of the product and now the price had tripled.
“We need to know the pros and cons associated with the suspension, whether the official pump price will rise from N194 per liter to N500 by government price while the private operators fix theirs at will.
“The purchasing power of Nigerians are very low, there is no increase in salaries of workers yet house rents are on the increase, school fees, electricity bills, transportation fare, cost of living are all in the increase, will the subsidy removal be added to the pain?,” he asked.
He said, “We hear that Fuel subsidy is killing Nigeria’s economy, costing it 10 billion dollars alone in 2022. Nothing had been done to cushion expected hardship.
Mr Fabian Chima, a trader and parent described the pronouncement as the worst mistake by the new president.
According to him, President Tinubu should have learnt from the experience of the Naira redesign which made life unbearable for many Nigerians.
”How will the masses survive with the increase in pump price of fuel occasioned by the subsidy removal?”
Mr Ugochukwu Okeke, a private fuel station operator, said that they hoped the new government would provide a friendly business environment for them to ensure that petroleum products would come to them at reasonable cost to avoid hiking the product.
Okeke said that the dealers would at all times wished to contribute their part in providing happy state for the people knowing that the product was a social service but not to strangle their own bushiness
“This issue is going to be a realistic partnership between the body and government so that everybody will be comfortable both the buyers, sellers and government,” he said.
