Twenty-four hours after President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of total subsidy, long queues have emerged in the Federal Capital Territory, and some cities in Ondo and Lagos States.
Following the announcement of fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu in his inaugural speech on Monday, queues have returned to filling stations in Abuja.
In Abuja, the queues were seen at Maitama, Wuse, Gwarimpa, Wuye and Kubwa areas of Abuja, while some filling stations remained closed.
In Ondo state, the cities where the long queues were seen include the state capital Akure, Ikare and Owo as well as in Ikeja, Agege, Ojodu, Egbeda, Airport Road, Iyana-Ipaja, Obalende, in Lagos metropolitan city.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that the queues in Lagos emerged on Monday with prices increased up to 250 naira per liter.
Some of the filling stations sell at the approved pump price while others jerked up the prices by Monday evening.
Some residents of the capital city complained that the scarcity would affect the economy, as most businesses would be negatively affected.
A civil servant, Mr Brown Uzor, said he had been in the filling station since 7 a.m., on Tuesday but had not been able to get fuel.
“We know it’s not the government’s making but the government should work on the roadmap to avoid any further problems.
“However, we saw this coming, I believe it’s just panic buying and the filling stations are taking advantage of the president’s speech.
“I personally want the subsidy to be removed because as a nation we need to grow but the fuel price should not be too high because of the ordinary Nigerian,” Uzor said.
Also, residents have kicked against the hike in pump prices and long queues that have resurfaced in filling stations in Akure, Ikare and Owo.
By Tuesday morning the situation at filling stations had worsened with long queues of motorists creating multiple lines at the few filling stations selling the commodity, thus causing traffic snarls on the affected highways.
Some of the filling stations sell fuel from N280 to N300
A taxi driver, Mr Tunde Femi, frowned at the development, saying the president’s inaugural speech touching on the removal of fuel subsidy led to the immediate hike in pump price and hoarding of the commodity by some petroleum marketers.
The taxi driver, who said that he had been looking for where to buy fuel at the cost N220 for over two hours, called on the state government and petroleum regulatory bodies to find a quick solution to the situation so as not to cause hardship for the masses.
“I am highly surprised about what happened yesterday because it is not supposed to be that filling stations will stop selling fuel while some have arbitrarily increased the price.
Also, Ariyo Osadare, a hotelier, decried the long queues of motorists at filling stations, saying the pronouncement of President Tinubu about the removal of fuel subsidy should not cause the petroleum marketers to hoard their fuel.
“If at all the fuel subsidy was removed, most of the filling stations are not helping matters because I was at one filling station when he suddenly stopped selling, saying fuel has finished.
“The fuel I bought yesterday was N230 per litre but this morning is N250. But if the fuel subsidy removal is for the benefit of the masses, I am 100 per cent in support,” he said.
However, a manager in one of the filling stations on the Airport Road, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, who refused to mention her name, said that the price increase was on the order of the management.
“For now, we are selling at N250 per litre although we sold at N220 on Sunday and I cannot confirm to you the reason for the increase,” the manager said.
