Three days after the announcement of the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government, the secretariat of the Bayelsa State Civil Service was yesterday deserted by workers and the vehicular movement around the state capital remained scanty as the prices of fuel from few available petrol stations hit the highest of N170 per litre.?????????????????????????????????????
A check by the LEADERSHIP around Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, showed that the closed petrol stations have subjected their customers to buying from black market operators opposite their stations at prices ranging from N170 to N200 per litre.
The deteriorating condition of the fuel subsidy has however been criticised by some members of the state chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) led by its former chairman, Barr. Stanley Amabide, the leadership of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) through the National Youth Leader, Comrade Miriki Ebikibina, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) through the state chairman, Comrade Tare Akon, and the Union of Opposition Parties led by Mr. Edwin Tare.
LEADERSHIP visits to some parts of the state, including the State Secretariat, the State Government House and the main market, known as the Swali Market, showed that workers of the State Civil Service and residents of the state capital may have stayed indoors and parked their cars at home following the high fuel prices and rising cost of transportation.
While those who spoke to the LEADERSHIP at the state secretariat attributed the poor presence of workers at their duty post to their inability to pay their way back from holidays in their coastal communities, others claimed that the low work load on workers due to the crisis rocking the ruling party over the exclusion of the governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, may be responsible.