Kwara residents groan amid arbitrary fuel price increase

Residents of Kwara State are groaning amid arbitrary fuel price increases by petrol filling stations.

Newspot reports that filling stations now dispense fuel at various prices, such as N715, N710, N620, N625, and N580, depending on the point of sale.

While NNPC sells at N580 per litre, major marketers, including Total Energies, sell fuel at N625. Independent marketers, on the other hand, dispense their products at between N710 and N715 per litre.

Motorists who spoke to Newspot in Ilorin on Sunday lamented, wondering why the arbitrary price of the pump could be forced on consumers with the regulatory bodies put in place by the government without any consequences.

The development has forced Keke NAPEP, Okada and commercial cab operators to increase their tariffs in Ilorin, the state capital.

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Interstate and inter-city transporters have also complained about hikes in the pump price of petrol on their various routes, with the burden shifted onto passengers.

Abdullateef Azeez, a driver who plies the Ilorin-Omu Aran route, said he bought fuel in Omu Aran at N1,200 per litre, while at Ajasse-Ipo, fuel is sold at N900 even without passengers to cover the cost of fuel purchases.

A manager of one of the independent filling stations in Ilorin, Tajudeen Balogun, in a phone chat with Newspot correspondent, explained that the development was due to the fall in the stock of fuel which has affected supply as demand is more than supply.

“The inability of Dangote Refinery to commence production and distribution of petrol is also not helping the situation, because NNPC which is the sole and major importer of petrol into the country has stopped now in anticipation of Dangote Refinery’s start of production,” he added.

Tajudeen said things may hopefully improve in the next few weeks or at least towards the end of the year.