Subsidy: Queues return to filling stations in Osogbo

By Olajide Idowu

Following the announcement of fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu in his inaugural speech on Monday, queues have returned to filling stations in Osogbo metropolis.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who monitored the situation on Tuesday, reports that most filling stations had shut their gates, while the few ones selling were selling above the regulated price with long queues of customers.

A popular filling station opposite Ayegbaju International Market, Osogbo, which was selling at N250 at the initial stage, hurriedly changed the pump price to N270 due long queue of motorists.

At the NNPC filling station at Abere, the queue of motorists waiting to buy fuel extended from the fuel station to the entrance of Osun State House of Assembly, about five kilometres away.

Aside from these two filling stations on Osogbo-Gbongan road selling petroleum product to motorists, other filling stations on the axis were shut.

On the Oke-Fia to Agunbelewo axis, only Bovas filling station was still dispensing with long queues of motorists, causing traffic hold up.

A commercial motorcyclists, Adebayo Ahmed, told NAN that he had been on the queue for more than two hours.

Ahmed, who said that he came from Ota-Efun, the outskirt of the town to look for fuel, said all the filling stations in his area were not selling the product.

“I had been searching for where to buy fuel since morning before one of my friends told me to come to Bovas filling station at Agunbelewo.

“I got here around 8 a.m. and met a very long queue. I hope it will get to my turn before they run out of petrol,”  he said.

Meanwhile, the state government said its Special Monitoring Team on Fuel Scarcity would begin monitoring all filling stations across the state in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders.

This is contained in a statement by Mr Olawale Rasheed, the spokesperson to Gov. Ademola Adeleke.

Rasheed said any fuel station found guilty of hoarding fuel to create artificial scarcity would be sealed and operators prosecuted for crime of economic sabotage.

“The attention of the Osun state government has been drawn to the deliberate hoarding of PMS by the fuel dealers within the State as a result of the Inaugural speech of President Bola Tinubu on the removal of fuel subsidy, thereby causing unnecessary hardship for the people of the state.

“This deliberate action is not only inhumane, but unpatriotic and will not be allowed by the government.

“To this end, the special monitoring team on fuel scarcity, set up by Gov. Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, and headed by the Chief of Staff, Kazeem Akinleye, is still effective and shall not condone any form of economic sabotage.

“As from today, 30th May 2023, the Committee shall begin special monitoring of all the filling stations across the state in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders,” the statement read.

(NAN)