January 24, 2018

Some residents of Port Harcourt have urged the government to ensure its agencies regulating the sale of petroleum products stopped filling stations from selling above the approved pump price.

The residents made the call when they spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Port Harcourt against the backdrop of the products’ scarcity.

They decried the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol at N220 per litre instead of N143 or N145 by independent marketers in the state.

A taxi driver, Mr Ifeanyi Umeh, accused the independent marketers of inflating the pump price, saying that they had become a problem in the oil retail sector.

“Most of them have fuel but it is either they sell at N220 per litre or they hoard the fuel; it is not fair to most Nigerians.

“For me, I buy from the marketers because of my business as a taxi driver and because there is no queue at their stations due to the high price.

“After buying, I recoup my money by charging an increased fare due to the situation.

“But if I am a private man, I would rather sleep at the filling station with approved pump price than buying at N220,’’ he told NAN.

A trader, Mr Tam Igbani, said that the government should stop the petroleum crisis in the country due to its negative effect on the masses.

“Imagine paying N400 instead of the previous N200 from Obigbo to Mile 1 Park as transport fare for a commercial bus; it is not fair enough at all,” he said.

A public servant, Mrs Nkem Azuka, said that she had stopped making large pot of soup because she could not afford petrol to power her electricity generator to preserve it.

“Since this month, I lost three pots of soup because the temperature has been high in the city and with the attendant high cost of fuel; I cannot afford to power my refrigerator.

“We have not had power supply for about eight months now and we have relied on electricity generator.

“But with the high cost of petrol, coupled with the payment of school fees and house rent, we decided to manage our poverty level,’’ Azuka said.

Azuka, who said that they lived at Okporo road area, said that cooking soup everyday was not only uneconomical but stressful to her as well.

She called on the government to alleviate the sufferings of the masses.

A major petroleum dealer on Aba road, who spoke anonymously, accused independent marketers of being very greedy.

He commended the Federal Government for not listening to the demands of the marketers and said that with time, they would behave themselves.

According to him, they are selling at high price because some Nigerians patronised them, if not, hunger would have forced them to sell at the normal price.

“As far as I am concerned, the independent marketers are very selfish and aim at adding to the sufferings of Nigerians; Nigerians should ignore them.

“We will not hoard petrol and will continue to sell at the officially approved pump price,’’ he said.

NAN reports that long queues are seen at major marketers and the NNPC Mega Filling Stations, resulting in increased transport fares by about 100 per cent.