By Kingston Magare 17.9.2026
Nigerian commercial vehicle operators under the aegis of the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) said they may be forced to embarked on a nationwide protest strike over the rising cost of living, low income and increase in petrol price.
According to a statement signed by JDWAN president Akintade S Abiodun members now spend between N50,000 and N100,000 for fuel daily, coupled with the high cost of customs duties on vehicles, maintenance expenses and ever declining purchasing power of Nigerians.
The drivers’ associations said they are also under pressure from multiple tolling points imposed on commercial drivers by officials and members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
“A whole lot has got worse since our statewide protest in 2022 demanding an end to multiple tolling units by officials of RTEAN and NURTW, also known as agberos or garages and parks management in some states,” the association said.
“JDWAN has been bedeviled with much more catastrophic conditions that make the agbero problem small.”
According to the association the over 730 percent increase in the price of petrol, exorbitant customs duties, and the devaluation of the naira is crushing its members.
JDWAN gave statistics like a serpentine belt which previously cost about ₦2,000 but now sells for around ₦15,000, tyres previously sold for about ₦7,000 now cost more than ₦50,000, while an engine that previously cost around ₦250,000 could now cost more than ₦1million, vehicles previously valued at about ₦1.5million now cost around ₦8million, petrol N180 per litre now N1,500,
“There is no driver that can save money to maintain their vehicle anymore. Once our car gets faulty, we have to go hunt for loans or park it somewhere and become beggars.”
They called on the government to: ” Reverse the removal of fuel subsidy and reduce petrol prices to what it described as the 2023 rate of ₦180 per litre.
“Reverse the increase in customs duties to the 2023 rates and Increase workers’ salaries.
“There is no oil-producing country in the world that pays so much for fuel like Nigeria without palliatives and subsidies in other sectors to cushion the effect with adequate infrastructure to show for it.”