Many motorists in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, have decried the recent increase in the pump price of petrol.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the pump price of petrol was on Wednesday increased.
The development has led to high transportation costs as well as worsened the daily hardship residents were passing through.
NAN reports on Sunday in Abuja that many fuel stations which used to sell fuel between N1,261 and N1,295 have all increased to the new price.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is presently selling at N1,364 per liter, MRS, BOVAS, AP (Ardova), and Mobil, adjusted their pump prices to between N1,364 and N1,370 per liter.
Other outlets such as AA Rano, Emedab, Empire Energy, and Ranoil are selling petrol at higher rates, ranging from N1,370 to N1,444 per liter.
Investigations by NAN showed that pump price of petrol had been increased so many times this year, from around N900 per liter recorded in Feb.
Following the development, many commercial and private car owners had parked their cars as they could not afford the cost of fuelling them. Also, few commercial vehicles were currently operating.
Many commuters, including civil servants were seen stranded at various bus stops during the week as the few commercial vehicles operating had increased transport fares.
Some motorists, who spoke to NAN, expressed sadness about the situation, while calling on the Federal Government to intervene on the unstable fuel price and its hardship on citizens.
A civil servant, Mrs Zainab Idris, said that the hardship was too much to bear.
“The hardship is too much. At times, I do not go to work because there is no money for transportation, and feeding is even a bigger problem.”
Idris urged the government to intervene. “I believe if the fuel price is stable, the cost of goods and services will be stable for a while.
“Whenever you go to the market to buy food stuff, you will discover the price has increased and it is not supposed to be like this, in this country whatsoever thing that goes up hardly come down.
“Although, the price of food stuff has slightly reduced but we cannot feel it because of the unstable cost of fuel,” she said.
Another civil servant, Mr Abdullahi Baba, said that he resumed work late since the increment as transport fares had increased and don’t reduce even when there was an adjustment.
“I have a car but I cannot afford the high cost of fuel. Using commercial vehicle is cost effective, and so many people are in this condition.
“There are lots of passengers at the bus stop but no vehicles and this is because there is no gain in the business anymore.
“We know it is not the government’s making but it needs to work on the roadmap to resolve the issue and avoid further problems,” Baba said.
A business owner at Garki market, Aliyu Hassan, said that the increase in fuel was affecting his business.
“The increase in transportation will make food stuff more expensive as everyone wants to sell and make profit.
“Traders now spend more on transportation, transferring the burden to consumers, thereby, making essential goods increasingly unaffordable for low-income households already struggling to survive,” he said.
A logistics operator in Mr Emeka Obi, called for investment in alternative energy and mass transit systems, noting that heavy dependence on petrol exposes motorists to continuous financial shocks.
He emphasised that introducing affordable public transportation and promoting compressed natural gas or electric vehicles would help stabilise the sector and reduce the burden on both operators and commuters.
However, an official of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), had attributed the recent increase and decrease in the price of petroleum products to market deregulation.
According to the official, the dynamic of demand and supply depended on the liberalisation of the market.
“Once the market is liberalised, we cannot have control, not to have a price regime at any particular point in time, based on the influence, either inwardly or outwardly, especially on the crude oil prices and the exchange rates in Nigeria.
“So these are the factors that determine the price of production,” the official said. (NAN)