Fuel station owners groan as sales fall in Kano

Fuel station owners and pump attendants in Kano are lamenting low patronage as patrons have reduced their volume of purchases following pump price increases.

The pump price of petrol was increased from N195 per liter to between N540 and N570 per liter upon the pronouncement of fuel subsidy withdrawal by President Bola Tinubu on May 29.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who monitored filling stations in Kano on Sunday reports that in spite of the availability of petrol, motorists and motorcyclists bought low volumes.

Some of the fuel station owners and pump attendants wore gloomy faces as business nosedived.

Mr. Sanusi Adam, a dealer, said he was experiencing low sales compared to the tempo before the price increase.

Adam explained that most customers now buy between 10 and 20 liters of gasoline, as opposed to the 30 and 50 liters they used to buy.

He said his fuel station used to exhaust its stock within four days before the price increase.

“It is now one week, and we still have a large volume of gasoline unsold,’’ he lamented.

Another dealer, Alhaji Muhammadu Aliyu, also lamented that many of his regular customers had reduced their volume of purchases.

“The business is not moving as before. We no longer get patronage like we used to before the price increase.

“People now minimize their purchases, while others have adopted alternative means of transportation like commercial motorcycles and tricycles,’’ he said.

Yet another fuel station owner, Malam Idi Garba, decried the situation where customers bought between N3,000 and N5,000 worth of petrol in spite of their big vehicles.

“The situation is bad. "The government should announce palliatives because fuel dealers are feeling the pain and prices of food items have gone up,’’ he lamented.

Malam Sabo Alhassan, a businessman and car owner, said since the price increase, he has been using commercial tricycles as they are cheaper to use.

He said he could not afford the N27,000 needed to fill his car tank.

Alhassan called on the government to address the issue in the interest of the public while expressing optimism that things would get better soon.