Amid President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ‘no more subsidy’ declaration on May 29, 2023, consumers of fuel are witnessing long queues in Edo State.
This is because marketers of the product are riding on the uncertainty created by the announcement and had arbitrarily hiked the pump price of petrol to 511 naira per liter.
A development that has left commercial bus operators to also jack up fares as high as 100-300 percent in the State.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29, 2023, during his Inaugural speech, scrapped a decadeslong government-funded subsidy that has helped reduce the price of gasoline in the country
Some marketers immediately shut down their retail outlets, hoarding the product, shortly after the declaration of President Tinubu, thereby, creating panic buying at filling stations.
Unlike other states, Consumers in Edo State who are facing Long Queues at filling stations following the declaration, express disappointment while calling for a new approach.
Commercial buses were scarce on the roads as a consequence of the hoarding of fuel.
Where available, the bus operators jacked up fares as high as 100-300 percent. Many commuters who could not afford the fares were seen trekking long distances.
However, Speaking citizen wants the government to revisit the decision to alleviate the rising suffering.
The resulting hike in petroleum prices could cause more hardship in a country where many are already struggling to cope with record unemployment and poverty levels coupled with inflation that is at an 18-year high.
