Ondo residents blast fuel marketers as scarcity resurface

Barely 24 hours after the swearing-in of the new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, most filling stations within Akure, the capital of Ondo State, have stopped dispensing Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popularly known as petrol, to consumers in the metropolis.

On Tuesday, residents of the state woke up to the scarcity of petrol as vehicular movements were enormously reduced on most of the roads.

While monitoring the situation, DAILY POST gathered that a few of the filling stations dispensing the product were confronted with long queues as people struggled to buy.

At some of the filling stations dispensing the product, they were selling between N300 to N400.

Meanwhile, the residents who lamented over the development, lashed out at the fuel marketers for their alleged deliberate attempts to frustrate the new administration.

According to some of the people who bared their minds on the situation, the fuel marketers were purposely hoarding their stocks following the hint by Tinubu that his administration would not continue with fuel subsidies regime.

A taxi driver in Akure, who gave his name as Kole Lawal, disclosed that he had been on queue for over an hour at one of the filling stations situated around High School Junction, waiting to get a few litres into his vehicle.

Lawal believed that the President’s statement on subsidy ought not to have an immediate effect on the price of the product.

“We are just our own problem in this country, not the government. Tinubu was sworn-in on Monday, and all of a sudden they (fuel marketers) began to lock their filling stations in anticipation of selling at a higher price.

“I got here over an hour ago after I had driven around Akure in search of petrol. I believe this issue of subsidy should once and for all be settled,” he said.

Another consumer of the product, Teye Amodu, stated that the new administration must ensure that the country is rescued from the grasp of fuel marketers.

Amodu maintained that Nigerians are now aware of the real issue surrounding subsidies, as he stressed that those making illegal funds from subsidies are the ones frustrating the system.

“I totally support the removal of subsidies. Let it be removed, and all these shenanigans by fuel marketers should stop. They are going just too far.”

On Monday, during his inauguration, Tinubu declared that there would no longer be a petroleum subsidy as it was not captured in the 2023 budget.

He disclosed that funds for subsidies will be diverted into infrastructure, education, health sector, and job creation.