Commuters left stranded at bus stops due to petrol shortage

monjola sotubo

May 25, 2015 7:42 AM

Available commercial transport now costs three times what it used to as drivers are forced to buy fuel from petrol stations at about N300 and from black market sellers at about N500.

Commuters struggle to board a BRT in Lagos

The severe fuel scarcity being witnessed in Nigeria has continued to cause hardship to citizens as commuters now have no means of transportation to their various offices and places of business.

“The driver said its N400 from CMS to Lekki and every other bus stop,” one commuter, Daniel David, told Pulse. “There were so many people on the road and no buses. I even saw people walking on third mainland bridge,” he added.

Another worker on the island tells Pulse that her office is empty and is expected to be that way for the whole day.

“I just got lucky because I got a free ride to the island,” she said. “There’s almost nobody in my office, it’s going to be difficult for people to get to work today,” she added.

Another commuter from Surulere explains how it cost N700 to get to his office, a trip which would have ordinarily cost N200.

“I can’t blame the bus drivers, they’re buying at black market prices,” he said. “It’s going to be much worse in the evening,” he added.

This comes as Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) announced that it would be forced to shut down its branches at 1pm due to the scarcity.

“The current shortage of petroleum products in the country has limited our ability to supply diesel to all our branches, in order to continue normal branch operations. Due to this, we unavoidably have to close our branches nationwide at 1pm, from tomorrow Monday, 25th May 2015,” the bank said via a statement released on Sunday, May 24.

Telecommunication companies, MTN and Airtel have also warned that the scarcity could affect their services if not urgently checked.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has vowed not to pay the marketers, who are largely responsible for the crisis.

“Marketers just want to make Nigerians suffer. I will not pay the N159 billion without verification, Nigerians should not allow themselves to be blackmailed,” she said in Abuja on Saturday, May 23.

The marketers have confessed to creating an artificial scarcity due to the subsidy debt owed them by the Federal Government.

“My friend, we are not sure what the incoming government will do with us as from May 29. We need to force the present government to pay us our outstanding claims now. We love this country, but we need to be sure we have products now, because we do not know what will befall us in the next two weeks,” a marketer, who chose to remain anonymous, told Vanguard.

However, the Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas, Ifeanyi Ubah has offered to supply 13 million litres of fuel to depots around the country in order to end the scarcity.

“We are constrained at this point and have decided that two wrongs cannot make a right. We will not be part of this sabotage against our fatherland. Therefore from this minute, we shall take the risk of opening our facilities and commence swift loading and distribution of products Nationwide,” Ubah said via a statement on Sunday, May 24.

He also called on other marketers to do the same to show themselves as patriotic citizens and save citizens of the country from undue hardship.

monjola sotubo