By Odo Ogenyi, Uyo
Vehicular traffic are at their lowest in Uyo and other major towns in Akwa Ibom following a sudden and continuous increase in the price of fuel in the last two weeks.
Petrol, the major fuel for most private and commercial vehicles in the area was dispensed at N165 per litre at the beginning of last month but has gone beyond N350 in the few stations that dispense the product as at the time of this report.
This has resulted in fewer vehicles on the roads as few private vehicle owners and commercial vehicle operators could now afford the product.
Some passengers have resorted to trecking while many have reduced the frequency of their journeys because of the corresponding high cost of transportation in the state now.
Many indigenes of the state who returned home for the Christmas celebrations are now stranded as transportation cost for Uyo to Lagos by commercial bus have reached an all time high of N30,000, up from less than N15,000 at the beginning of last month.
The state government had said it procured about 1.5m litres of fuel by special arrangement to be dispensed by independent marketers but this has not brought the deaired relief as the marketers have continued to operate without any control or supervision.
Residents have expressed reservations and disgust over a directive by the chairman of the State Task Force on Petroleum Monitoring, Mr Victor Etefia asking them to report stations dispensing at more than N300 per litre, arguing that such directive was illegal as the FG is yet to announce an increase in the price of the product.
A commercial bus driver who identified himself as Ubong Eddie expressed anger over what he described as a subtle introduction of a new price regime of N300 per litre by marketers in the state and wondered why regulatory agencies have done nothing to bring the marketers to order.
“The chairman of the task force is a fuel dealer and you don’t expect him to be on the side of commuters. Okay, since they started selling at N300 and now N350 per litre have you seen a filling station that have been punished?
“Things are just going out of control and the government agencies that are supposed to monitor the activities of these independent marketers seem helpless. Have you not seen that there are few vehicles on the road.
“The private ones are very few and we the commercial vehicle drivers are finding it difficult to cope with the current price because the passengers are not finding it funny when we tell them the price for the journeys they want to.make. It is really a difficult situation.” Eddie explained.
There have been no explanation from relevant authorities as to the sudden price hike even as the product is sold for less than N250 in neighbouring Cross River and Rivers states despite Akwa Ibom currently accounting for about 40% of crude oil production in Nigeria.
The state has no Fuel Depot or refinery while marketers source for their products from the depots in Calabar and Port Harcourt.
