By Francesca Hangeior.
The Petroleum Dealers Association of Nigeria (PEDAN) has called on the federal government to take immediate action to address the escalating fuel prices that are affecting businesses and consumers across the country.
Ebonyi state chairman of the association, Mr. Silas Njaka, made the call in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital a day after the state government sealed off three filling stations in the state over alleged metre adjustments and other sharp practices.
Njaka blamed the persistent rise in the pump price of petroleum products in the country on the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government and called for immediate action by the president to address the challenges.
He said: “The petrol pump price at the depot on Thursday was one thousand one hundred and fifty-five naira. I remember that I bought a litre of fuel at nine hundred and ten naira before, but today it is one thousand one hundred and fifty-five naira at the depot and this is happening, because of the removal of fuel subsidy.”
The PEDAN chairman urged the federal government to explore means of ameliorating the sufferings of the people, by urgently addressing the challenges in the country’s oil industry.
He said: “Remember, in this country, there is nothing like fuel scarcity again. The Federal Government should rethink how to assist the poor masses because we are dying. Everything has gone out of control and it’s no longer favourable to anyone. The sellers and the buyers are crying and everybody is deeply involved.”
Njaka further opined that the persistent crisis in the oil sector, which was occasioned by the continued rise in fuel pump prices, can only be tackled by the Federal Government, through the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
He, however, condemned the incessant cases of adjustments of dispensers by some filling stations, adding that the act is “criminal and unpatriotic.”
“The act is a crime and no filling station is expected to do that. So if you see any filling station indulging in that let me know, and the agency instituted to monitor petrol stations, the Department for Petroleum Resources, DPR, will take appropriate actions to checkmate the owner of such filling station,” he added.