By Our Staff Reporter
Residents of Ilorin, Kwara state, woke up on Saturday to face fuel scarcity in the capital.
The fuel scarcity which started on Friday, resulted from the leadership crisis which erupted within the Oke-Ogun, Saki branch of the Petrol Tanker Drivers Union, PTD, in Oyo state.
Impeccable sources disclosed that the outgoing chairman of the body seeking another term in office, rebuffed the request of some members of the union asking him to step down.
Following his refusal to heed the suggestion of the members, the tanker drivers were asked not to go to the Oke-Ogun area anymore to supply fuel until the leadership crisis is resolved.
“One defiant drive however breached the directive and diverted fuel supply meant for Ilorin to Oke-Ogun.
“This resulted in the sanction by the Lagos branch of PTD not to supply Ilorin with fuel until the leadership crisis is resolved, “the source added.
The stoppage of fuel supply to Ilorin, sparked long queues in few fuel stations with some stock in Ilorin on Saturday.
The filling stations also capitalised on the situation to hike the pump price from N179 and N190 per litre to N220 or N230 per litre.
The hike in price by the fuel stations, also led to increase in transport fares within the Ilorin metropolis as operators of commercial taxi cabs, Keke Napep and Okada motorcyclists complain bitterly about the frustration they encounter in purchasing fuel to power their machines.
At the time of filing this report, officials of the Ilorin branch of Petrol Tanker Drivers Union, could not be reached.
