Twenty-four hours after President Bola Tinubu declared the removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity has returned in Cross River State.
Recall, Tinubu, in his inaugural speech, had declared that fuel subsidy which had been a lingering issue in the nation, especially between Organised Labour and the Federal Government, was gone.
On Tuesday morning, in many parts of Calabar, it was observed that most of the fuel stations that sold the product 24 hours were all locked up, thereby leaving residents stranded.
It was reported that the Atimbo area of Calabar had six active fuel stations, all of which were under lock and key and were not dispensing petroleum products.
In spite of the fact that two of these fuel stations had fuel tankers that came to discharge petroleum products, they were still not selling.
In one of the fuel stations, a male official who declined to comment on the matter, claimed that they were only carrying out directives.
Mr. Effiong Nsa, a minibus driver, said that most of the fuel stations that were locked up had the products and sold fuel the previous day.
He said that they only stopped selling so that they could make more profit following the declaration of the President on the issue of fuel subsidy.
“I know that all these stations have fuel. They are only trying to make more profit by buying at a subsidised price and selling at a price that would be determined after the subsidy removal.
“Right now, what I have in my vehicle is going down. Immediately it finishes, I will go and pack the vehicle at home because there is nowhere to buy the product,” he said.
On her part, Mrs. Juliana Adak, one of the passengers stranded at the Edim-Otop junction, said that the suffering was so much as she had been there for over 30 minutes without getting a bus to take her to her destination.
Adak called on the Federal Government to look into the matter, adding that it was too early for the nation to experience fuel scarcity under the new administration.
