Recent Hike in Fuel Price in Lagos

Transport fare in Lagos has recently been hiked by almost 100 percent, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and oil marketers are steadily looking for a solution to the fuel shortage.

For instance, Badagry to Mile 2 which costs about 400 naira now cost 1000 naira. Over 100 percent increase, amongsts many others.

Bothered by the crisis, the chairman of PETROAN, Eastern Zone, Mr Sunny Ekpe made known his thoughts saying that the police won’t do anything to help solve this issue.

“Let me make it categorically clear here, there is no amount of threat by DSS that is going to change anything. If it must change, they must start from the source, they should go to the private depot operators to find out where for now we are getting products from.

“Until the cartel or cabal in that area is handled or taken care of, we can never get any reduction or fairness in the distribution of the product,” He gave his reasons.
He also added that there has been no allocation of Petrol to the portharcourt depot lately (For the past 6 months.)
Former President of the trade union congress, TUC, Peter Esele also added that the DSS would have been a vital piece of information within the supply chain to have received such ultimatum.

“For DSS to come out and issue an ultimatum, the DSS must be privy to some information. Everyone must focus on the DSS to come out with its results within 48 hours or else, DSS may also be a player in the game.

“DSS must tell Nigerians its findings within 48 hours and whoever is behind this should be prosecuted because there are enough products in this country for everybody to get petrol,” he said.
Its Chairman, Mr Oluwole Adeosun, made the call at a web training for energy journalists, yesterday, in Lagos.
Mr Oluwole Adeosun, added “We envisage a rise in demand during the yuletide season and we are prepared to work round the clock to keep our stations running.

“If the country wishes to implement a subsidy, it must be in areas targeted to help those it should help. Such areas are agriculture and transportation, to reduce food price, and inflation and generate more jobs for Nigerians.

“In tandem, we must find a way to liberalize supply. We must bring transparency and competition into supply to ensure steady and more efficient supply at optimum prices.

“Imported products must compete with locally refined products to find a meeting point between the need for local refining and competitively low but cost recovered prices for Nigerians for sustainability.

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“The dialogue with the Nigerian people needs to begin to identify, negotiate and agree on these areas and begin implementation to save the downstream industry.

“The industry has been in degradation free fall due to a lack of investment to maintain, renew and grow assets and facilities such as refineries, pipelines, depots, trucks and modern filling stations,” he said.

“Neither the new refineries nor the refurbished refineries will survive with the refining margins at current pump prices.”