Fuel sells at N115 per litre in Aba, despite FG’s directive

Residents of Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, are still buying petrol above N100 per litre, despite reduction in the price of the commodity by the Federal Government.

The Federal Government at the beginning of 2016 announced a reduction in the price of petrol from N87 per litre to N86 per litre for mega and major marketers, and N86.50 per litre for independent marketers.

However, most marketers in Aba are still selling petrol between N100 and N120 per litre, depending on the location, and this is despite the availability of products at the Aba depot of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

BusinessDay checks revealed that most filling stations have resorted to selling products in the night to avoid obeying government-approved prices, thereby causing artificial scarcity in the area.

An independent marketer, who prefers anonymity, attributed the development to the fall of the naira.

According to him, “the economy is unpredictable. If you equate the price of fuel with the current exchange rate of the naira to the dollar and other currencies, fuel price will skyrocket.

“Products available in the market now were imported by the NNPC and who knows what will happen when we exhaust it.”

Consequently, residents are appealing to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to fulfil its promise to sanction any oil marketer that refuses to sell products at approved rates.

Kenneth Onyegbula, one of the residents, also accused some of the marketers of adjusting their meters to further exploit the people.

According to Onyegbula, despite the fact that these marketers sell above the approved pump price, they also adjust their meters to further exploit the people and the DPR should investigate these filling stations and bring the bad ones to book.