Fuel Scarcity: Commercial Drivers Decry High Fuel Price

Commercial vehicle drivers in Port Harcourt have cried out over the high price of fuel of petroleum products at the filling stations.

In an interview with The Tide yesterday, some drivers wondered why the price of fuel should go up above the official pump price of N97.00 per litre.

A taxi drivers, Mr. Sahari Benene told The Tide that the dealers are causing the artificial scarcity as they hoard the product in order to sell to black marketers at night.

According to Benene, the purported fuel scarcity is caused by filling station managers who hoard the product out of their personal interests.

He was of the view that the filling station operators have a deal with the black marketers who pay them same stipulated amount of money after sales at high price.

Another driver, Mr. Ezie Nathaniel who spoke to The Tide also attributed the scarcity to the dealers who only sell at night thereby making it difficult for consumers of the product to get it when necessary.

One of the drivers told our team of reporters that a litre of fuel or petrol is being sold at between N120 and N140, a price he said is outrageous.

Mr. Ezie said that at the end of the day’s operation, he would be left with nothing due to the high cost of fuel and called on the  government to urgently intervene in the issue by making sure that the price of fuel is normalised.

Meanwhile, The Tide investigations show that drivers as a result of the high price of fuel have increased fares.

A driver who plies park to Iloabuchi said they have been forced to increase the fare from N50 to N100 per drop while from Mile I to Mile 3 is now N100. 

Wealth Onjike/Leesi Barivole/Nwanne Homachi