Commuters stranded as artificial fuel scarcity hits Ibadan
Segun Showunmi in Ibadan
The panic buying of petrol on Monday took its toll on commuters in Ibadan,Oyo State Capital as numbers of them got stranded in bus stops ,following artificial scarcity which hit the town and environs.
Penpushing reports that commercial motocylists and cab drivers plying major roads in the ancient city were seen in long queue in some filling stations, which include; Samonda, Bodija, Sango, UI Gate, and Mokola Roundabout, among others.
The students, civil servants and business owners were found waiting endlessly and looking for means of transportation to get them to their respective destinations, while it was also observed that transport fares increased by those commercial drivers with fuel in their vehicles.
Penpushing further reports that the Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Oyo and Osun State, Alhaji Bukola Mutiu when contacted on phone said he was not in the right position to speak with journalist about the ‘scarcity’ until he received directive from the Zonal or National body of the association.
The Chairman noted that only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) can explained what caused the increase in the petroleum price which led to the fuel scarcity, adding that his member are selling the products to the public based on what they also bought from the corporation
Penpushing also reports that Oyo State Government in reaction to the development called on the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to start monitoring petroleum stations in the state, stressing that any marketers found hoarding the product should be santionced.
The State Commissioner for Public Works and Transport, Prof. Daud Sangodoyin made the call on Monday while featuring on a radio program on Fresh FM 105.9 in Ibadan, noting that the scarcity of fuel that started on Sunday was artificial as there was no reason for most of the marketers not to sell to the people.
‘As government, we are doing all we can to make life easy for the people of Oyo State and this is reflected in the number of infrastructural projects around the State, for some people to be creating artificial scarcity of fuel for pecuniary reasons is wrong and inhuman’.
“The Department of Petroleum Resources should as a matter of urgency swing into action and arrest the situation, they have the work of monitoring cut out for them and this is the moment to bring those marketers sabotaging government by hoarding products to book,” he said.
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