By Savinews Staff
The Anambra State commissioner of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Barrister Anthony Ifeanya has sounded a warning on the leaderships of the Petroleum Dealers of Nigeria (PEDAN),Anambra State Chapter and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN),Enugu Depot to guide against arbitrary and indiscriminate hike of fuel pump price in the state.
Handing down the warning in his office at Chief Jerome Udoji Secretariat Awka, while interacting with the leaderships of the two sister Associations who were in office on invitation , the Commissioner said that the essence of the event was to chart a new course for the holistic development of the Ministry and Anambra state as well.
Barrister Ifeanya,who described the fuel Station Owners in the state and their allied Petroleum Dealers as some of major critical stakeholders of the Ministryin the state,affirmed that he had been rapouring well with them on the better ways to move the Ministry forward in the overall interest of the state by offering Ndi- Anambra the best services required of them.
He noted that they were in the cause of the interaction, talked about the rising cost of fuel in the country as a result of the nagging issues arising from the petroleum sector across the country as well as the pump price of fuel and other allied petroleum products in the state.
The Petroleum Commissioner,who warned the leaderships of the two sister Associations in the state that he would not want what that is currently happening in Lagos State where the prices of the Petroleum products have been exponential hiked to the roof top to repeat itself in Anambra state,stressed that the indiscriminate increase on the prices of Petroleum products in the country ,Anambra state in particular would definitely affect the transport system , economy and every other sectors of human endeavour in the state .
He also told them to maintain the current fuel pump price of one hundred sixty five naira per litter in the state and avoid using the opportunity of what that is happening elsewhere in the country to exploit the suffering poor people of the state in the face of the inflation which he said that is bitting very hard on everyone in the country today .
The Commissioner ,who spoked among other things ,stated that he equally used the opportunity offered to him by the event to also warn the Petroleum Dealers in the state about the inherent dangers of adulterated Petroleum products practiced by some of them for huge profit maximization and reminds them that such dangerous act had killed so many people in state while thousands of other have been rendered homeless today due to unexpected fire out break associated with the adulteration of fuel by some of heinous members of the two Associations.
According to him ,the Ministry is waiting for the Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s approval to constitute committees on surveillance for monitoring of the activities of the Petroleum Dealers in state, checkmate the issue of importation of adulterated Petroleum products into the state by some of the black sheep in the sector as well as regulate the activities of black petroleum marketers in the state.
He further expressed his uncommon hope that the two groups would hacking to his plea ,having promised him that they would be cautious by putting human face in their dealings in the state.
In their separate remarks,the Chairman, Petroleum Dealers Association of Nigeria, Anambra state Chapter, Chief Obi Okafor and the Chairman Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Enugu Depot, Chief Chinedu Anyaso,attributed the recent slight hike of fuel price in the country and Anambra state in particular to nonavailability of Petroleum products in the NNPC custody in the country.
They said that they have not been sourcing the Petroleum products from NNPC for now , due scarcity of the products ,adding that they have equally not been buying the products again from the Enugu depot for more twenty years now because of the nonavailability of the products there.
They groups affirmed that they haven been sourcing the products from the hands of the private Petroleum
depots in Lagos, Calaba and Port-Harcut at one hundred and fourth eight naira seventeen koob per a litter or even more excluding the rates of transportation, hiring of truck and loading among others .
They maintained that with the slight increase on the purchase of fuel at one hundred and seventy five naira or more in some quarters of the country ,that there would be also a slight increase on the fuel pump prince in the state ,wondering how they could buy va litter of fuel at a very exorbitant rate only to come down and start selling them below the rate they bought from the sellers.
The groups however ,assured the Commissioner that they had pleaded with their members to play according to the rules by complying strictly to detects of government in the state and as well trade with caution by putting human face in what they do in the state.