Due to the ongoing hikes in fuel prices over the past two weeks, traffic has significantly decreased in Uyo, the state capital of Akwa Ibom, and other significant cities in the state.
As opposed to N165 per litre offered a few months ago, some outlets in the state now sell gasoline for above N350.
There are apparently fewer automobiles on the roads currently as a result of this invention because few owners of private cars and drivers of commercial trucks could afford the product.
Due to the high expense of transportation in the state, this has led to some passengers turning to hiking while many have reduced the frequency of their trips.
Many state residents who travelled back home for the Christmas holiday appear to be trapped because the cost of a commercial bus ride from Uyo to Lagos has increased from N15,000 to N30,000 since the beginning of last month.
The state administration claimed to have obtained 1.5 million litres of fuel through special arrangements for independent marketers to distribute, but this hasn't provided the relief that was hoped for because the marketers have continued to operate without any oversight or control.
Residents have expressed disapproval and disgust over a request to report stations dispensing at more than N300 per litre made by the state Task Force on Petroleum Monitoring Chairman, Mr Victor Etefia. They claim that such a request was illegal because the federal government has not yet announced an increase in the price of the product.
Ubong Eddie, a commercial bus driver, expressed indignation over what he called the state's marketers' covert introduction of a new price regime of N300 per litre and questioned why regulatory bodies had taken no action to hold the marketers to account.
According to him, “The chairman of the task force is a fuel dealer and you don’t expect him to be on the side of commuters. Okay, since they started selling at N300 and now N350 per litre have you seen a fueling station that has been punished?
“Things are just going out of control and the government agencies that are supposed to monitor the activities of these independent marketers seem helpless. Have you not seen that there are few vehicles on the road?
“The private ones are very few and we the commercial vehicle drivers are finding it difficult to cope with the current price because the passengers are not finding it funny whenever we tell them the price for the journey they want to make. It is really a difficult situation.”
Meanwhile, there has been no explanation from relevant authorities as to the sudden price hike even as the product is sold for less than N300 in neighbouring Cross River and Rivers States.
Akwa Ibom State is currently accounting for about 40 per cent of crude oil production in Nigeria.
The state has no fuel depot or refinery while marketers source their products from the depots in Calabar and Port Harcourt.