By Fatima Muraina,
Jimoh Ahmed,
Kayode Olabanji &
Babatunde Ayedoju

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Motorists and residents of Ondo and other neighbouring states are still facing tough times at getting petrol as scarcity of the product persists for the third week running.

Contrary to people’s expectation and government assurance that the scarcity will abate after a week, the situation has taken a worse dimension.

The Hope investigation revealed that the situation might linger more than expected as many filling stations are  not dispensing the product, while the few ones that were opened were selling above official pump price.

The commodity, in some areas within the state capital now sells for as high as N300 per litre.

Speaking on the situation, a manager of Oando filling station in Akure who pleaded anonymity said only few marketers were given supply which was grossly inadequate to meet the needs of motorists.

His words: “The independent marketers do not permit us to sell above pump price so they cannot supply fuel. It is the middle marketers that got allocation. What we were given is not enough for us to meet people’s demand and that is why the crisis continues,”

He hinted that directive was given that capital cities like Lagos, Abuja, Portharcourt and Ibadan should be supplied first before considering states like Ondo which is why some capital cities have fuel while others does not.

While explaining that there were no shipments of fuel from outside the country, he noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had attributed the scarcity to the war between Russia and Ukraine which may prolong the scarcity.

According to him, the problem could only be ameliorated if shipment is permitted while he advised on the urgent need to repair all the refineries in the country, to avoid subsequent fuel scarcity.

A motorist, Dr Toye Owolanke expressed dissatisfaction about the situation, saying that the price of fuel is beyond reach and not even available to meet people’s needs as it has hindered movement and business transactions.

He charged government to expedite action and be proactive on the situation.

Mrs Elizabeth Udohin, another motorist observed that many filling stations were hoarding the product only to sell at a very high rate to marketers at night.

Also, Mr Sunkanmi Arowolo, a resident in Akure said “it is unfortunate that the task force is not doing the enforcement properly. Majority of the filling stations sell at very high price and even demand token for every purchase.”

He disclosed that he gave N500 for buying a N5,000 worth of fuel.

Madam Beatrice Dada urged the task force to be more proactive as she claimed that they only do enforcement where the filling station management did not ‘offer something.”

Reacting, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Ondo State Governor on Special Duty and Strategy, Dr Doyin Odebowale noted that the scarcity does not affect Ondo state alone but everywhere.

He said the task force is to ensure that whoever brings the product to the state must not sell above the approved pump price or hoard.

” If there is no product there is nothing anybody can do about it because we do not control the supply,” he said.

He warned those buying at night to desist and that whoever is caught will face the wrath of the law.

“We are going to ensure that nobody sells above the pump price,” he declared.