Less than 24hrs after the fuel subsidy removal by the federal government, prices of commodities in Abuja markets have sky-rocketed.
When LEADERSHIP visited Wuse Market yesterday,? a trader who sell? vegetables, Mohammed Ruwan, lamented the sudden increment in the prices of foodstuff in the market, saying that he bought a basket of tomatoes? for N1,500 in the early hours of? Sunday, January? 1? but by yesterday, January 2, the price had increased to N2,500.
Ruwan said, “As a trader, it is not expected of me to sell less than my purchase price.? Therefore, a plate of tomatoes which I usually sell for N150 is now N250.
Likewise, a small basket of onions that was sold for N700 is now sold for N1,000 while a small plate of pepper that was sold for N50 has also been increased to N100.”
The case was not different for the price of fruit items as Ahmed Sule, a trader, told LEADERSHIP that the price for a small basket of orange has changed from N500 to N600 overnight. He said, “A pod of pawpaw? that was sold for N400? is now N500 while guava which previously was N100 is now going for N150.”
But a trader on food stuff, Mrs. Titilayo Yusuf maintained that nothing has changed yet.
“We are still selling with the old price because we don’t know where we are going yet till tomorrow,” she said.
According to her, a measure of rice has been sold at N270 and the price still remains, likewise other food stuff.
Corroborating, another trader who sells oil told LEADERSHIP that a bottle of oil still N250, adding, “as you can see, the price has not changed”
Mohammed Abdul, who sells potatoes, said that the price of a small basket still goes for N1000. According to him, “the price may probably change after we must? have gone to the market to buy new stocks.”