06 February 2017, Umuahia – The price of petrol has gone up from the official pump price of N145 per litre to between N148 and N150 in Umuahia.
The price hike has caused an increase in transport fares within the metropolis.
A sales attendant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Monday in Umuahia that the hike in the pump price was due to the scarcity of the product at the Osisioma Depot, near Aba.
“The product is not available at the Osisioma depot, so we travel to other places, including Lagos, to purchase the product,” he said. He said that marketers were spending more money to bring the product because of the scarcity.
“Aside buying the product at a higher cost per litre, marketers also spend more money to transport it down to the state. “We bought the product at N144 per litre and sell at N148 to cover the cost, including transportation,” he said.
NAN reports that the product was only available at independent marketers’ service stations, while major marketers did not have the stock. It was learnt that major marketers could not afford to purchase the product at any price because they could not sell above the official pump price.
Meanwhile, tricycle operators in the town have increased their fare from N40 to N50 per drop. Two motorists, Collins Igwe and Gladys Onyema, who were seen at a filling station lamenting the price hike, said the situation had worsened the economic situation in the city.
“Already, Nigerians are suffering so much under the recession; so the hike in pump price will definitely compound the economic hardship in the country,” Igwe said.
They appealed to the Federal Government to intervene immediately to save the people and Nigerians from further economic difficulty.
- Vanguard
