As a fallout of the removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant anticipation of increase in the pump prices of petroleum products, some filling stations in Ogun State, on Sunday, refused to sell petrol to motorists, despite having abundance of the product in their pits.An attendant at a fuel station in Ogere Remo on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Nigerian Tribune that he got a dressing down from his boss for selling petrol to a large number of motorists that besieged the station on Sunday.The Nigerian Tribune observed an unusually large number of motorists queuing to buy fuel as early as 9.50a.m. on Sunday at the station.'This morning, I noticed an increase in the number of vehicles coming in to re-fuel. Though we enjoy high patronage because of the strategic location of our station, I took the exceptionally high number today (yesterday) to be caused by the fact that most filling stations did not open because of the festive period.'But when our boss got through to me on the telephone after six attempts, he scolded me for not picking my call in good time. After that, he ordered that I should stop selling fuel to motorists, even though we still have a lot of fuel in the pit,' he said.However, two other gas stations visited in the axis were selling fuel at the official N65 per litre.Others including those in Sagamu and along the Ogere-Ibadan axis of the expressway were shut and motorists turned back.Meanwhile, in a reaction to the development, a former senior manager with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Dr Sesan Sobayo, has accused the Federal Government of being economical with the truth on how much is actually spent as subsidy.Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on phone, Dr Sobayo put the real amount at about N500billion, if government would be sincere.'All this is happening because Nigerians are not enlightened enough about economics. Otherwise, they would have challenged the government to come out with facts on how much quantity of fuel is being subsidised. This will not happen in Europe, where government would place all the facts on the table for the citizens to verify and controvert.'If you and I should go out on the street now, they will say we are disrupting the peace. I support the position of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that a question mark hangs over the quantity of petrol being consumed daily by Nigerians which is said to be about 35 million litres,' Sobayo said.The reservoir engineer added that the analysis presented by the Federal Government that subsidy was about N500billion up till October only to jack it up to about N1.1 trillion later was an indication of the amount of deceit and fraud in the argument presented by government.Meanwhile, intra-city transport fares have shot up by between 50 and 100 per cent in some areas in Ogun and Oyo states.Trips from Sagamu to Iperu and Ogere Remo, which used to be N50 and N100 respectively, have gone up by 50 per cent.In Ibadan, the experience was the same as a trip from the Toll-Gate end to Challenge area, which hitherto cost N50, was upped to N100 on Sunday.When one of the commercial motorists operating in the park was asked why the fare had gone up by 100 per cent, he replied that it was because of the festive period that the decision was taken.He added that his colleagues had withdrawn their vehicles from the road so as to await the new official price and fully maximise the fuel bought at old price.Many commuters in Ibadan metropolis were seen stranded in various bus stops as at 7.45 p.m. as a result of the few commercial vehicles plying the roads.In Challenge, Molete, Gate areas, commuters were seen trekking long distances to their destinations, while a few others made use of the few available commercial motorcycles popularly called Okada.It was an opportune moment for okada riders who also jarked up their fares.
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