Drivers, Passengers Groan As Fuel Price Hits N230 Per Litre In Kogi

Lokoja-Okene-bound drivers have expressed disgust yesterday as fuel price hits N230 per litre in Okene, a commercial town and the headquarters of Okene local government area of Kogi State.

When LEADERSHIP visited some filling stations in Okene yesterday, it was discovered that current scarcity of fuel in Lokoja, the state capital, has spread to Okene with major stations having no fuel for sale to motorists.

In a few filling stations where fuel is sold, it was at a cost of at least N230 per litre while some drivers said the price could be as high as N270 in other filling stations in the area.

Commenting on the development in an interview with LEADERSHIP, a Lokoja-Okene bound commercial driver, Issa Mohammed, described scarcity of fuel in Okene as worse compared to Lokoja where the product is sold between N190 and N200 per litre.

Mohammed said, “The current hike in the price of fuel, especially in Okene, is fast going beyond the purchasing capacity of an average commercial driver to cope with.

“Hardly can any commercial driver in Okene boast of making tangible profit at the end of the day’s business as all our proceeds go for the purchase of fuel which continues to hit the roof.”

Mohammed’s colleagues who aligned with his observation on the issue, called on the federal government to supply more fuel to the filling stations as a natural way of forcing down the price of fuel to official level.