Residents of Lagos State, particularly motorists have lamented the excruciating effect of continued hike in petrol pump price by President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government.
Following the latest petrol pump price increment observed in Lagos on Tuesday, SaharaReporters visited several Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) filling stations at different locations in Lagos including Bajulaiye Street and Fola Agoro Service Station at Fola Agoro Street.
Speaking with SaharaReporters on Wednesday at one of the NNPCL filling stations at Bajulaiye, Lagos, one of the officials in charge of the station who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the price hike from N925 to N960 became effective on Tuesday.
“We were selling at N925 per liter before but as of yesterday (Tuesday) morning, they changed it to N960,” the manager, with SaharaReporters confirming the price from a fuel pump where a customer bought 10.07 liters of petrol at N9,667.2, while another customer bought five liters of petrol at N4,800.
Asked if there was any reason for the sudden price hike, he said, “It is from the above. Anywhere you see NNPC filling stations in Lagos, they don’t change prices by themselves. Immediately they change prices in Abuja, it will reflect here.
“It is general. It changes directly. It is wi-fi. If the price reduces, it will also automatically reduce here. We will just sit and see it there change.”
Speaking SaharaReporters, Keke Napep riders and other motorists in Lagos lamented how the petrol price hike is landing sledgehammer on them, noting that the worst part of their challenge is that while the petrol price keeps increasing, they are unable to increase transportation costs as customers are not willing to pay.
A Keke Napep rider operating from Morocco bus stop, Bajulaiye Road, Somolu to Bariga, who simply identified himself as Johnson said that though the situation is harsh, it has become part of them.
According to him, it has become obvious that though the Nigerian government knows about their plights and the current harsh economic situation in the country, the government does not think or care about them.
Asked how the petrol price hike is affecting their business as transporters, he said, “It is not new. It has mastered us. We have bought fuel at N1,200 before the price came down and went up again. It has become part of us. But what the government is doing is not good.”
Speaking further, Johnson said, “We are charging the same price we have been charging. Even though they increase the price to over N1,000, we will still charge the same price because if you increase the money, passengers will lament.
“From here to Bariga is N300I. We can’t tell passengers that because they have increased fuel price, it is now N400. It will not be easy for them to pay that amount. We are just managing the same price we have been charging before.
“If there is any help the government can provide for the masses concerning fuel, let them do. High cost of fuel makes every other thing costly. So, since we are producing fuel here, we are expecting fuel price to come to N500.”
Also speaking with SaharaReporters, a motorist, Damilola, who plies from University of Lagos Gate to Bariga said, “I don’t know what to say because it has become normal for the government to do whatever they like.
“It is really affecting us negatively. Sometimes we buy N10,000 worth of fuel a day, and then struggle to recover what we spent on fuel and still go home with something. It is really affecting us.
“If fuel price comes down, items in the market will come down too. One liter of engine oil is now N4,600 or N5,000 depending on the brand and quality. Meanwhile, it was not up to N1,000. It was N850 or N900.”
Another Keke Napep rider, Hassan Abdulazeez said, “The way today’s government handles the country is not favouring us.
“Before, we used to spend between N2,500 and N3,000 to service our Keke but now we spend N12,000 with two liters of oil. The fuel price is affecting us not small.
“They know that we are going through all this. They know us. They know about us but they don’t think about us or consider us.
“When somebody said “Emilokon”, and they gave him the thing, and there is no mercy for the people, only God knows what he meant. He means something.
“It is not about who voted for you or who did not vote for you. If you are PDP and you did not vote for me but I won the election, I will do very well in the area of that PDP person to show them that I have won and I will do what is called government.
“If you perform well, they will change to your party without wasting time. I didn’t know that this people can do like this. Just using force to collect power.
“Americans are enjoying themselves but we don’t benefit from anything here. Meanwhile, Nigeria does not belong to one person. It belongs to all of us. Why is that some groups are enjoying in this country while some groups are suffering? It is not making sense at all.”
According to Johnson, most times they quarrel and fight with passengers as some passengers will know that they don’t have enough money for transport but would not tell them (Keke Napep riders) until they get to their destinations.
However, when contacted for reaction and explanation on the reason for the sudden petrol pump price hike, the NNPCL’s Director of Communication, Femi Soneye, told SaharaReporters that the fuel price was not determined by the NNPCL but dictated by market forces, including international crude oil prices and other economic variables.
Soneye said, “The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) does not determine or fix petroleum product prices.
“The downstream sector has been fully deregulated, and as is the practice globally, prices are dictated by market forces, including international crude oil prices and other economic variables.
“NNPC Ltd operates as a commercial entity and has no role in price fixing. Whatever price you see at the pump is purely a reflection of market dynamics.”
