Calabar residents decry escalating price of petrol

Some residents of Calabar, Cross River State, have expressed concern over the sudden increase in the pump price of petrol to between N1,450 and N1,500 per litre.

The residents were responding to a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey on the price of petrol in Calabar on Tuesday.

NAN checks at some fueling stations in Calabar metropolis showed that pump prices have been adjusted to between N1,450 and N1,500.

Mary Ubong, an official of a major petrol outlet in the city, said the latest increase could not be blamed on petrol retailers.

She said the wholesale price of petrol had increased by about N85 per litre, forcing retailers to adjust their pump prices to align with the new reality.

“So what you see is a reflection of the increase by wholesalers, it wasn’t caused by retailers,” she said.

Ms Ubong further said that petrol was already expensive at its previous price of about N1,300 per litre, saying, “the new increase will heighten the hardship”

Another petrol station official, Timothy Adama, said he could not understand the reason for the constant increase in the price of petrol.

Mr Adama said that Nigeria was blessed with huge deposits of crude oil, and the price of petrol should not go beyond the reach of ordinary people.

“The authorities should manage the country’s resources effectively to improve the living conditions of the citizenry.

“This crude oil belongs to us. I don’t understand why it is this expensive, and putting Nigerians in this kind of pain,” he said.

Also speaking to NAN, Rita Johnson, a business woman, said the rising cost of petrol had begun to affect the cost of processing her products.

Mrs Johnson said that a bowl of ‘tigernut’ which was between N600 and N700, now went for N1,500 due to the new cost of petrol.

“With the current reality, it now costs more to produce my drinks for sale. We cannot continue this way,” she said.

According to reports, the latest pump price increase is the result of an alleged adjustment in the wholesale price of petrol by Dangote Refinery on 12 September.

Reports say that the price was increased from about N1,265 to N1,350 per litre, representing an increase of about 6.7 per cent.

NAN reports that the increase has led to an unexpected rise in the cost of transportation, foodstuffs, and other necessities.