Commuters and motorists in Benue State are groaning over the price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol which is still selling for as high as N380 per litre despite the intervention of the NNPC Limited.
The situation has been made worse by the unavailability of the product in virtually all the filling stations owned by major marketers in the state.
Findings indicated that while the few Independent Marketers who have products sell to desperate motorists for between N270 and N300 per litre, black marketers sell for between N360 and N380 per litre.
The NNPC Mega Station on Otukpo Road which is selling at government-approved prices cannot be easily accessed as vehicle owners make frantic efforts to gain entrance into the station to buy the product.
Some of the motorists who could not hide their displeasure over the unabated development appealed to the authorities to intervene and address the issue.
David Okube, a commercial motorcycle operator, who was among the multitude of riders who were waiting to purchase the product from the Mega Station lamented that major petrol stations in the state were deliberately making life unbearable for the people by not dispensing products to the public.
“Why will it be only the Maga Station that is selling fuel to the public? Why are other major marketers not selling weeks after the government took steps to ensure that there is enough product in the country?
“Even nearby Abuja which was hard hit by scarcity now has products. But when you come to Benue state they are selling to us at between N270 and N300 per litre while the black marketers are selling for about N380 per litre some even sell for N400, especially at night.
“We cannot continue like this because the people are suffering. If you come to Mega Station to buy you will spend the whole day here and if you are unlucky you might not get to buy before they luck up,” he said.
Also, a medical doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday, December 30, 2022, lamented that it was unacceptable for Nigerians to continue to go through pains in order to buy petrol.
“How can a responsible and responsive government allow its citizens go through this kind of pains in order to buy fuel? I am a medical doctor who is supposed to be in the hospital attending to patients but I abandoned that assignment to search for fuel. Why are all the major marketers in Makurdi not selling fuel? Why are we still buying fuel for about N300 per litre in Benue? It is killing, to say the least.”
‘Your protests don’t move me’ – Tinubu Dares Nigerians As He Vows To Remove Fuel Subsidy
Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has warned that no amount of protests from Nigerians would stop his administration from removing fuel subsidy if elected.
He frowned at a situation the Federal Government would be subsidising fuel consumption in neighbouring Africa like Cameroon, Niger, and Benin Republic.
In a statement on Friday, December 23, 2022, by Tunde Rahman, Tinubu Media Office, after a business luncheon with business owners entitled: “Business Forward” in Lagos, the APC candidate promised to turn Nigeria’s present challenges into opportunities for growth and development.
He also promised to work towards creating a better security in the country to give them an enabling environment to do their businesses.
The APC candidate said since it was the responsibility of government to secure lives and properties of citizens, his administration, if elected, would make that its priority, the same way he did as Lagos State governor.
Addressing the issue of fuel subsidy and what he intends to do as president, he promised to take bold decisions that would turn the economy around and one of such will be a firm decision on fuel subsidy, stressing that Nigeria will not continue to subsidise fuel consumption in neighbouring countries.
“How can we be subsidising fuel consumption of Cameroon, of Niger, of Benin Republic. No matter how long you protest, we are going to remove subsidy,” he emphatically stated.
On Security, he said, “first, the primary responsibility of government is to protect the lives, properties, and prosperity of its citizens. As Governor of Lagos, fixing the difficult security situation I inherited was the first item on my list.
“Only after we secured the state and changed its reputation for the better, could we embark on the economic reforms that have ultimately produced the vibrant and active megacity of today.
“I am committed to securing Nigerians from violence and the fear of such violence. Terror, kidnapping, and banditry have no place in the society I envision. Upon entering office, we will move to implement several measures:
“We will increase the numbers of our military and non-military security forces. Specialist anti-terrorist battalions with integrated special forces units shall also be established.
“Our Critical National Infrastructure Protection Plan will deploy aerial and ground surveillance technology to surveil the most dangerous areas and secure our country’s vital national infrastructure and installations.
“We shall acquire and upgrade the tactical communications and mobility of our troops and security personnel. We must also devote greater attention to the care and welfare of our military and security forces who put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe.
“In sum, our objective is to be able to out maneuver, outwit and outflank the terrorists and criminal groups. They want to defeat our democratic and good society. We shall defeat their evil one. We did it in Lagos with the RRS scheme. We can do it again for Nigeria. As we fight insecurity, we must deal with our economy at the same time. We know that business and insecurity cannot thrive side by side,” he noted.
