….as drivers blame marketers for fare retention

Barely a week after the Federal Government announced a reduction of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol by N20 per litre, commercial drivers in some sections of the country are yet to reduce their fares, Daily Trust’s investigations have confirmed

The government had last Wednesday ordered marketers to reduce the pump price of petrol from N145 per litre to N125 following oil prices slump in the international market and the need to alleviate socio-economic burdens on Nigerians occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, announced the government’s decision after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, saying that “the drop in crude oil prices has pushed the expected open market price of imported petrol below the official pump price of 145 per litre.

Many commuters were excited following the directive as they believed that it would translate to fare reduction along many routes as commercial drivers would extend the benefits of the fiscal measure to them.

Ironically, one week after, transport fares remained the same in major routes nationwide.

When our correspondent visited popular

Jabi park in the Federal Capital Territory, transport fare from Abuja to Lagos, Ibadan and other South Western states which formerly ranged between N5,000 and N10,000 remained unchanged.

A traveller, who simply identified herself as Stella, told our correspondent that she paid N8,000 from Lagos to Abuja, the same fare before government reduced the fuel pump price

The story is not different among commercial drivers plying Abuja to Kaduna, Zaria, Kano and other North Western states as well as Maiduguri, Nguru and other North Eastern States.

In the same vein, a traveller going to Onitsha, Chibuzor Sunday, who spoke to our correspondent at Jabi park lamented how fare to South East states still remained high despite recent government’s intervention.

He said, “In all six geo-political zones, transport fare to Anambra, Enugu and other South East states is the highest. I expect our brothers (commercial drivers) to have reduced it since price of petrol has come down.”

Some commercial drivers blamed oil marketers on the fares, saying they are still buying fuel in virtually in most filing stations N145 per litre.

A motorist and member of RTEAN, Mr Muhammed Adamu, said, “It is very difficult to reduce price of fare if price of fuel has not come done.