3rd January, 2012
Lagos residents said yesterday that the fuel subsidy removal, which raised pump price of petrol to between N141 and N145 per litre, from its N65 per litre, was a shock.
A cross-section of the people, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the removal would cause a lot of hardships for ordinary Nigerians.
A civil servant, Mr. Abel Ariyo, said the sudden removal of the subsidy was like a bombshell, which had caught most Nigerians unawares.
“The subsidy removal will likely cause increase in transport fares and house rent, among others,†he said.
A driver with a Lagos-based transport company, Mr. Hyginus Oluchukwu, described the subsidy removal as shocking, saying it will raise fares on all routes.
“You know what it means if I have to buy 50 litres of fuel for N10, 000 at the black market to travel to the South-East, passengers will have to bear the cost.
“A journey from Lagos to Imo which cost between N6,000 and N8,000 last week, will now attract a different fare when they are returning to Lagos because of the usual problem of fuel scarcity in that area.
“Imo to Lagos may cost passengers between N12, 000 and N15, 000 from today,†Oluchukwu told NAN.
A trader, Mrs. Olufunke Roberts, expressed fears that the cost of living might increase as a result of the raise in pump price.
Roberts, who sells rice, said the exorbitant transport fares that would be incurred would be passed on to consumers.
Meanwhile, only few filling stations sold fuel to motorists on Monday in some parts of Lagos Metropolis.
NAN correspondents, who went round, report that few stations which opened for business on Ikorodu Expressway and Apapa road, sold petrol at between N140 and N145 per litre.
Long queues were also noticed at some of the stations which opened for business.
Transport fare from Oshodi to Ikotun, which formerly cost between N120 and N150, now costs N250, while passengers on the Onipanu-Palmgrove-Orile/Iganmu route paid N150 as against the N100 they paid before the subsidy removal.