Against the backdrop of failure of filling station operators in Port Harcourt to effect the reduction in pump price of petrol from N70 to N65, the Rivers State Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Ezemonye Ezekiel Amadi has warned that those who still defied the Federal Government directive would be dealt with.
The Federal Government had on Thursday announced a reduction in pump price of petrol in line with the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market.
However, motorists in Port Harcourt say they still buy the product at between N75 and N85 per litre.
Said one of the motorists, “I know the change as we are talking about, I still buy petrol at N70, there is no change because I still bought it at the old price.”
Another motorist lamented, “I have not bought any fuel at N65, I still buy at N70. Those that are selling for the independent marketers are still selling at N80 and N90 per litre, while those selling at N75 are still selling, apart from the NNPC that is selling at N65 per litre. The worrisome thing here is that when you buy N1,000 fuel, the quantity of fuel you get does not reflect the amount you paid.”
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government has warned all petrol stations in the state to revert to the new pump price as announced by the Federal Government or risk being dealt with.
The state Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Ezemonye Ezekiel Amadi said his ministry will not watch filling stations in the state extort money from motorists.
The commissioner said his ministry will visit filling stations from today to ensure that marketers complied with the new pump price.
He said “we are going to take it very seriously because the major reason for pump price reduction is for people to get the benefits of reduction in the price of crude, and the only way the people can get the benefit is that they purchase the product at a cheaper rate.”
Ezemonye continued “we will not condone any act of fuel hike above what is announced by the Federal Government. We will clamp down on any marketer that is found selling above the approved pump price of N65 or those hoarding.
“We have concluded plans to ensure that we enter into every petrol stations even those who decided to shut down, we will make sure that we enter even if it will mean breaking into the station, because if you have product and you refuse to sell, that is hoarding and it is an offence, and we will ensure that nothing will stop us from entering any station, and we will ensure that offenders are punished,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Action Congress (AC) has called on the Federal Government to come up with other measures to alleviate the sufferings of the people in the country, despite the reduction in the pump price of petrol.
The AC in a statement wondered why the price reduction centred on petrol alone.
The statement signed by the national publicity secretary said there was need to slash the prices of diesel and kerosene.
AC regretted that most marketers are yet to effect the change in the price of petrol.
The Action Congress lambasted the marketers for selling at the old price and cannot adjust to the new pump price regime.