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The government of Anambra state has issued a stern warning against the escalation of petroleum product prices, product adulteration, and meter tampering by marketers, threatening severe consequences should it continue.
Mr. Anthony Ifeanya who is the state’s commissioner for petroleum and mineral resources, emphasized that the government would commence rigorous monitoring of all filling stations across the state.
Speaking in Awka, the state capital, over the weekend, he confirmed that the ministry had finalised preparations for the measure.
The Eastern Updates gathered that some of the filling stations had started selling a litre of Petrol between N850 to N970 in the state, with heavily adjusted pumps, while some of the marketers had equally, gone into adulteration to make more gains.
However, Ifeanya, said the state government was embarking on the exercise to apprehend any filling station operators found to have tampered with their meters.
The commissioner, a lawyer, warned perpetrators of such acts to desist forthwith or face the full weight of the law.
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The Eastern Updates gathered that the development came on the heels of “uncountable complaints” of “tampered meters”, “adulterated fuel” and shady deals by petroleum marketers being lodged at the state ministry of petroleum.
It was observed on Sunday, May 12, that most filling stations were not dispensing the product while the few ones dispensing were besieged by motorists and other users of the product.
The development made transportation fares to suddenly soar above 100 percent as commuters now pay N300 for a journey that they initially paid N150.
Investigation revealed that most filling stations operating in Onitsha, Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Obosi, and some parts of Awka, sold above N970 per litre.
However, Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) facilities located along the Awka-Enugu expressway and in Onitsha were seen selling the product between N820 to N850 per litre.
