Despite the recent reduction in petrol pump prices to between N925 and N985 per litre at major fuel filling stations throughout the country, road transporters warned Nigerians not to expect a cut in transport fares anytime soon.
According to the carriers who talked to the press, not all filling stations have lowered their fuel pump prices yet, and the fuel price drop is negligible.
They bemoaned the increase in the cost of maintaining their cars, citing the fact that the cost of spare parts had increased by more than 100% in the past year.
They also stated that the price of fuel might increase in the near future, so they need to keep an eye on price movements and determine whether the time is right to lower fares.
In December 2024, IREPORT247NEWS had previously reported that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced the price of its Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) product, which is also referred to as fuel, to N899.50 per litre.
The company has now set a new pricing of N899.50 per litre after lowering it to N970 per litre on November 24.
This cut is intended to lower transport expenses during the holiday season.
Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Industries Limited, announced that the ex-depot price of petrol had dropped from N970 to N899.50 per litre, and that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery had collaborated with MRS Oil and Gas to supply petrol at retail outlets for N935.
Since then, Dangote Refinery has inked similar agreements with a few other significant marketers. NNPC Limited was also compelled by this situation to lower the price of a fuel litre to N925.
There were fare rises on some routes across the Lagos and Ogun States axis, despite the fact that many customers expected this reduction to be reflected in the fares they pay for transportation.
A commuter in Lagos said, “By now, I expected a reduction in the price of transport, but it is instead increasing. From Oshodi to Sango-Ota, it’s now N1,000. The issue is that we have no option but to board the buses since we can’t trek that long distance.”
According to another commuter, transporters have a practice of hurting passengers and taking advantage of any circumstance to raise their rates.
He described his experience, saying that the customary N200 ride from Oshodi to Gbagada General Hospital now costs N300. However, he claimed that drivers took advantage of church events in the Gbagada area on Sundays and charge N400, which was unfair.
When asked why there hasn’t been a discernible drop in transport expenses, Comr. Jolaiya Seun Moses, a business partnerships and proposals manager at the Amalgamated Union of App-Based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), spoke on behalf of App-Based Transporters.
He said, “we have experienced several fuel price hikes, yet we have never demanded an increase in transportation fares. The era of raising transport costs with every slight fuel price increase has changed. We are now in a system where we endure one another. What we’re observing in fuel prices are minor fluctuations. Even when there’s a N50 increase, we transporters don’t demand higher fares. So, when there’s a small reduction of N30 or so, we don’t see it as a decrease but rather as a fluctuation in price.”
According to the source, a driver said, “The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), known as the union, collects their money regardless of the economic situation. They don’t pity the drivers; they don’t reduce the money charged for booking daily, and this is aside from the little money you pay to different agbero.
“At Oshodi here, we pay N1,200 for a ticket every day we want to work. And for every trip you make, you also pay money, excluding payments of different levies such as boys’ money, environmental money, and other expenses. So tell me, how do we reduce transport costs with all these levies? Mafoluku to Oshodi is at N200, and before the subsidy removal, it was N100, then moved to N150, and now it is N200.”
He also implored the government to provide a soft landing because when the price of essential commodities like fuel comes down, then automatically, ‘we too will reduce the price at which we carry passengers. But marginal reductions such as N30 or N50 do not solve or provide solutions to the issues before us.’