Commercial taxi operators have called on the Federal Government to clamp down on petrol station dearlers in Port Harcourt who are yet to comply with its directives to sell petrol at N86.50k per litre.
The commercial transporters noted that petrol dealers in Port Harcourt are always operating on a different sacle rather than the one approved by the government.
Mr. Onyema Amadi-oha, a cab operator said the high petrol price in the state has forced dirvers to step up in their normal fare charge.
The cab operator, who narrated his ordeal during the yuletide celebration, said he hardly made any profit after buying fuel at the rate of N140 per litre.
Amadi-oha, hinted that holiday makers travelled much earlier for fear of high fare charged due to the “man-made” fuel scarcity.
He accused the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) of insensivity over consumers’ plight in the state.
According to another commercial bus driver, Mr. Bob Amaechi, the DPR in Port Harcourt are only after their benefits and not regulating the prices of petroleum products as assigned.
When asked to prove his statement, he said all fuel stations in the state brazenly displayed N130-N140 per litre on the metre screens.
Amaechi noted that the regulatory body cannot deny knowledge of such situations due to their personal dealings with them.
A female cab operator, Ms Caroline Ordika, who expressed shock over the situation, challenged the operatives of DPR to at least seal a fuel station in the state as a proof of seriousness.
She said, she would be glad to read in a newspaper or hear in a radio station that a fuel station has been sealed in Port Harcourt and not always in Sokoto or Abuja as always reported.
However, The Tide gathered that most fuel station in the state are still dispensing PMS at N130 – N140 per litre against the Federal Government’s orders to sell same product at N86.50 per litre from January 1, 2016.

King Onunwor