Residents of Ekiti State are going through difficult times due to scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit, known as petroleum, in all the 16 local government areas of the state.
The few fuel stations dispensing the product have arbitrarily increased the price to between N680 and N750 per litre.
As of the time of filing this report, only a few vehicles and transporters were plying the roads in Ado-Ekiti. Most residents now rely on the use of motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, as a means of transportation.
For instance, the Poly Road along the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) axis which used to be a nightmare for residents due to traffic congestion, has been free since Tuesday morning when the fuel scarcity began to bite hard.
It was learned that some petrol marketers who have the products deliberately refused to sell, thereby causing long queues in few places where the product is available. This has also resulted in extortion of consumers.
Some marketers, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES in confidence, said that they have not gone to buy fuel because of the possibility of Dangote refinery commencing sales of petrol.
According to them, they don’t want to take the risk of going to purchase fuel at the current pump price only for the Dangote fuel to arrive at a lower price.
They expressed their preference to wait and watch how things unfold in the coming weeks.
Residents lamented that they were at the receiving end of the various policies of the government, wondering what the authority was doing to call the marketers to order.
Kayode Ogunleye, a resident of Ado Ekiti, said that the situation in Ekiti had become unbearable, calling on the Task Force put in place by the state government to be alive to its responsibility.
Another resident and Okada rider, James Oguntuase, said he spent over four hours on Friday evening trying to buy some litres of fuel at N750. He said that the marketers should be blamed for the current hardship.
“We are always blaming the government for everything. My question is: is the government responsible for hoarding of the fuel? Is the government responsible for fixing arbitrary prices? Our people are very wicked,”
However, some residents were of the view that the Petroleum Product Regulation and Consumer Protection Agency in Ekiti State, and the Petroleum Task Force team have been ineffective.
They alleged that they had failed to act appropriately to address the situation.
They called on Governor Biodun Oyebanji to put the task force on their toes to do the needful.
When contacted on the telephone, the Chairman, of the Petroleum Product Regulation and Consumer Protection Agency in Ekiti State, Arinka Odunayo, said that his agency was trying to picket the fuel stations allegedly hoarding fuel. He said the agency would force them to sell the product at the approved price, noting also that many marketers had refused to lift fuel. Mr. Odunayo, however, said that he has convened a meeting between his organization and the marketers for next week on Monday.
