Abuja – Some commuters in the Federal Capital Territory have called on the Federal Government to totally remove the subsidy on petroleum products, to ensure availability of fuel in the country.

Many commuters were stranded due to the ongoing fuel scarcity which has brought long queues at the filling stations in the city.

Mr Okon Koko, a Civil Servant, said that the removal of fuel subsidy would ensure the supply of petroleum products and stabilise market price.

“You can see the number of people waiting to get vehicle to their various places of work and business, but there is no vehicle because of the fuel scarcity.

“In fact, you can see that it is almost five days now and there is no fuel and there is no solution in place. The stress of getting a vehicle to town is too much, especially on this Karshi-Nyanya Road.

“I have been standing here for the past two hours waiting for vehicle; since the scarcity began, we sometimes get to work at noon.

“We pay more than the usual price. In fact, l paid N200 from Kurudu to AYA yesterday, then picked another vehicle to the Secretariat.’’

Koko advised the government to withdraw the subsidy totally, so that no importer would have excuse to slow the supply of products because of payment.

“I think that is what is making them to hoard the fuel because they are waiting for subsidy money to be paid,’’ he said.

Mrs Margaret Abari, a Civil Servant said that the issue of fuel scarcity was coming at the wrong time.

“The government should alleviate the suffering of the people by ensuring the availability of the product as this could affect the re- election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

She appealed to the government to be firm in taking decision on fuel issues so that it would not affect the citizens in future.

However, some inter-state transporters in the FCT have blamed the low turnout of passengers and non-availability of vehicles to the scarcity.

Mr Williams Ugwu, the Supervisor, Peace Mass Transit, urged the government to restore the confidence of the masses as elections were around the corner.

“Actually, the fuel scarcity is affecting our business because drivers have been relying on “black market’’ after sleeping at the filling stations and there is also drop in passengers.

“Instead of the N87 fuel pump price, our drivers are buying at N100 and above on the highway, yet our fares remain the same.’’

Also commenting, Alhaji Musa Abaji, the Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Long Journey Service, Jabi Motor Park, appealed to the government to come to the aid of the transporters and passengers by resolving the problem.

Mr Lawrence Fadipe, Chairman, NURTW Taxi Town Service, said that 75 per cent of the union’s vehicles were out of the road because of the fuel scarcity.

“We are scared of increasing the transport fare because of the way things are; the government should put more effort in resolving fuel crisis”, Fadipe said. (NAN)