By NANA MUSA

Many motorists in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed worry over the fluctuating hike in the pump price of petrol.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that many fuel stations used to sell between N815 and N835.

NAN reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is presently selling at N875, while other fuel outlets are selling between N875 and N880 and above.

Investigations by NAN showed that as a result of the development, many commercial and private car owners had parked their cars as they could not afford the cost of fuelling them.

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 Halima Khalid, 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.”

Khalid 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.

Khalid said that because of the economic hardship in the country, many civil servants had converted their cars to commercial use, also known as “kabu kabu” to make ends meet.

Most times, I enter commercial cars because they are a bit cheaper as the operators just need money to augment their fuel.

Another civil servant, Mr Umar Sani, said that he presently 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,” Sani said.

Chief Ezekiel Offor, a businessman said the removal of the fuel subsidy with no proper plans in place had affected the oil and gas sector as well as the nation’s economy.

“The dollar keep going high and it makes it difficult for the importers and marketers to buy petrol this is because they need to sell as they buy to make their profit.

“If the government is not ready to make a lasting policy, it should bring back the subsidy as a lot of citizens are suffering.

“The market is unstable and the hardship keeps getting worse daily,” he said.

Another civil servant, Julie Obi said that some drivers with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) still charged high transportation prices, which is unfair to the citizens.

“Cars with CNG are supposed to charge less transportation fares, but they are taking advantage of the situation.

“I recently ordered a ride and needed to put something in the trunk only to discover it was a CNG car but his fare was the same with vehicles that use fuel.

“I asked him and he said that if I was not comfortable with his price, I should cancel the ride. Relevant authorities need to check these drivers,” she said.

Obi said that some of the CNG cars that government supported were given stickers but they removed it just to charge higher.

A taxi driver, Jamiu Sule said that things were so complicated presently, as drivers were battling with high cost of petrol and food.

“I run at a loss now, this is because I buy at a high cost and if I increase the transportation, some passengers may not be able to afford it.

“I hear that workers’ salaries have not been increased as promised, so we also need to be considerate.

My family depends on my daily returns and it has not been easy meeting up and with the latest increase I do not know what to do.

“This increment is affecting everything, food stuff have increased, even my landlord has increased his rent, my children school fees too.

“I am begging our president to do something fast on the suffering of Nigerians as it is not easy for a lot of us please,” Sule said.

A Bolt and Uber driver, Wale Johnson said that the harsh economic situation had increased occasioned by the high cos of fuel.

He said that there was no more profit in the business as he had been driving at a loss just to sustain his means of livelihood.

“People are not requesting for ride, they prefer going to the bus stop, I think I will just go home and sleep because this will be very hard, where are we going to? The president needs to do something urgently.”

Mrs Uloma Boniface, a retired civil servant also urged the government to boost its CNG project across the country to boost utilisation of CNG vehicles to crash transport fares.

She said that over dependence on PMS was literally making it a scarce product, adding that when CNG becomes common, with its affordability and infrastructure nationwide, PMS would not be expensive anymore.

“I hear that PMS conversion to CNG is expensive, the government need to make it affordable to all, I believe with this life will be a bit easier.

“I also urge the government to implement the health insurance and other packages for retirees as the hardship tells more on them.

“I am a widow, my children and I cannot feed, pay school school fees or make other payments,” Boniface said.

A vegetable seller in Wuse market, Ibrahim Usman, said that the last goods supplied him had over N50,000 increase, and she was experiencing low patronage.

“I am so worried, vegetable is not the kind of goods you can keep for a long time, now people are not buying because the price is high and I don’t blame them.

“If this my goods perish, I will stop selling because I borrowed money to add for the additional payment, how did we get here,” he said.

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)