Residents of Ondo State, particularly in Akure on Tuesday woke up to the scarcity of petrol as most of the filling stations within the city, have stopped dispensing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, to consumers in the metropolis.
BusinessDay reports that this development have caused the reduction of the vehicular movements on most of the roads in the state.
Monday, during the swearing-in of the new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he declared that there would no longer be a petroleum subsidy as it was not captured in the 2023 budget.
Tinubu disclosed that funds for subsidies will be diverted into infrastructure, education, health sector, and job creation.
It was gathered that a few of the filling stations dispensing the product were confronted with long queues as people struggled to buy.
Read also: Edo residents face long queues, fuel price hike day after Tinubu’s inauguration
At some of the filling stations dispensing the product, they were selling between N350 to N400.
However, the residents who lamented over the development, lashed out at the fuel marketers for their alleged deliberate attempts to frustrate the new administration.
Some of the people who bared their minds on the situation, while speaking with journalists in Akure said the fuel marketers were purposely hoarding their stocks following the hint by the new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that his administration would not continue with fuel subsidies regime.
Ismail Adewole, a taxi driver in Akure, disclosed that he had been on queue for over an hour at one of the filling stations situated around Ilesa garage, waiting to get a few litres into his vehicle.
Adewole believed that the President’s statement on subsidy ought not to have an immediate effect on the price of the product.
He said; “We are just our own problem in this country, not the government. Tinubu was sworn-in on Monday, and all of a sudden they (fuel marketers) began to lock their filling stations in anticipation of selling at a higher price.
“I got here over an hour ago after I had driven around Akure in search of petrol. I believe this issue of subsidy should once and for all be settled.”
He, however, said the new administration must ensure that the country is rescued from the grasp of fuel marketers.
