September 12, (THEWILL) – Ebonyi State government, under governor Francis Nwifuru, has dropped a strong warning to fuel dealers and marketers in the thirteen local government areas of the state, to shun shady practices.
The Special Assistant to the Governor on petroleum, Mr Nwafor Nnaemeka, made this known while speaking with newsmen in Abakaliki, the state capital.
He revealed that the state government has sealed three fuel stations that allegedly indulged in shape practices and meter adjustments, among other offences.
Nnaemeka, who read the riot act to fuel dealers, further threatened that the government would continue to seal any fuel stations that failed to give the masses measurably what they paid for.
He said, “Fuel pump price hike is a global menace, so far, this country is concerned. The sudden increase of the pump price both from the depot to fuel station owners, due to unavailability of the products and as it stands now, Ebonyi State is not an exception. It is almost everywhere in the country and all states are experiencing it.
“We have been working tirelessly to make sure that fuel stations are not under dispensing. We got information that due to the unavailability of the product, people are using the opportunity to defraud the masses.
“That’s why we deployed a task force to go to all the fuel stations in the state to make sure that they monitor the activities of fuel stations closely. So far, we have sealed three fuel stations; Edde Mass, R&C and Dozi oil & gas fuel stations due to under-dispensing.
“We are not leaving any stone unturned and the process continues and after the urban areas, we will relocate to the rural areas and make sure that the masses get value of what they paid for.
He further debunked the allegations making the rounds in the state that fake taskforce agents have flooded fuel stations and extorted money from dealers.
“Anybody who is saying that the government is not checkmating the activities of the fuel station owners is not saying the truth, that’s what resulted in sealing the 3 fuel stations and they will not go scot-free and probably we are going to use them as an example, because it is not good to defraud the masses. They are going to face the full wrath of the law.
“Also, it is not true that fake task force agents are flooding fuel stations in the state. I have taskforce agents that were approved by the governor, Francis Nwifuru, to work under my department to checkmate the sharp practices that are going on in most of the fuel stations in the state, ranging from adulteration, meter adjustments and other unholy activities, thereby making the masses not to get the value of what they paid for.
“For now, there is nothing like fake task force agents in the state as far as petroleum is concerned. The taskforce agents we have now are legally approved by the governor and they are making a move detecting those faults from the fuel stations”, he stated.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
