Petrol Price: Lagos Commercial Bus Drivers Lament Over Low Passenger Turnout

Some commercial bus drivers in Lagos State, on Wednesday, lamented over low number of passengers on the roads as a result of increment in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in the early hours of Tuesday raised the pump price of petrol in Lagos to N565 per litre. Prior to this time, the national oil firm sold the product at between N484 and N488.

THE WHISTLER recalls that President Bola Tinubu had during his swearing-in in May, announced the removal of subsidy on petrol, leading to full deregulation of petroleum products price in the country.

Giving reason for the current increase on Tuesday, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, had attributed it to market forces, adding that there was no shortage in product supply.

But speaking with our correspondent some of the drivers said that the hike in the price of pump price has led to drop in the number of passengers on the roads.

A driver, Pascal Ozodibe, lamented that though he is still charging the old fare, there were no passengers.

“The passengers are not there for us to increase the price, because it’s when you see passengers that you’ll determine how much they’ll be able to pay. It’s the number of passengers at the bus-stops that will determine how much you’ll charge.

“If you look around now, you’ll see that there’re no passengers. So if you’re charging N600, N700, passengers will not board your bus. So it’s better you charge them old fare,” Ozodibe said.

He said that he is struggling to met up with his daily expenses as a result of the increment in the pump price of petrol.

“When the price (of petrol) was N500, we buy fuel of N7,500 from here (Ajegunle Bus-stop) to Oshodi and come back. But now that the price of fuel has increased, the amount we spend on fuel has also increased,” Ozodibe lamented.

“We’re buying N8,000 (petrol) going and coming. And sometimes when you make a trip, you can’t recover the amount spent on fuel. Even if you charge N500 per passenger, that’s N10,000. If you minus N8,000 fuel from the N10,000, how much remains? The national union will collect their money at each bus-stop. Coming back again, you’ll not charge more than N400.”

Ozodibe also lamented over the deplorable state of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and high cost of maintenance of vehicle.

While he supports the removal of petrol subsidy, he urged the government to find a solution to current hike by increasing the salaries of civil servants.

Also lamenting low number of passengers, a commercial driver who identified himself as Niyi, told THE WHISTLER that the increment is having negative impact on commercial bus drivers.

Niyi said: “It’s affecting us; it’s affecting passengers and Agberos. Some (petrol marketers) sell it N598, while others sell between N700 and N750. I don’t want to work again.”

Before now, the fare from Ajegunle Bus-stop to Iyana – Ipaja was N300. But the commercial bus driver said he would increase it to N500.

Niyi called on Tinubu to bring back petrol subsidy, so as to reduce the suffering of many Nigerians.

Another commercial bus driver, Mohammed Jamiu, also pleaded with Tinubu to bring back petrol subsidy, adding that it would help in reducing high cost of food commodities in the country.

“Petrol is very important in Nigeria, because the price affects everything. You can see that there’re no passengers here. People don’t want to go out, because they don’t want to spend more. But if the price comes down, people will like to go out,” Jamiu said.

Similarly, another driver,Lukman, also asked the president to retain subsidy on petrol.

Lukman who is still charging old fare, lamented that passengers are not showing up.

“As you can see, there’re no passengers. We’re just trying to manage, all because family is at home,” he said.

Yinka Osberu berated the president saying that during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure, Nigerians bought petrol for N185 per litre. But under Tinubu, the price has gone up to N600 per litre.

Osiberu while pouring out his frustration, asked Tinubu to resign if he cannot govern the country.

“We’re tired. I’m planning on a business to do. Maybe to be frying Akara in front of my house, because if you buy fuel of N9,000, hardly you can get N7,000 from it. So we’re frustrated. We, drivers, are frustrated,” he lamented.

“This’s my advice to him (Tinubu): I voted for him really. But if he knows that he can’t govern the country, let him resign. That’s just my advice. We’re tired.”

Our correspondent who visited some bus-stops around Alakuko, Kola and Meiran areas, observed low number of commuters on the roads.

Checks by THE WHISTLER showed that while some of the filling stations visited on Wednesday were selling petrol for N562 per litre, others were selling between N568 and N570.