By Odo Ogenyi,Uyo
A civil society organization, Center for Human Rights and Accountability Network, CHRAN, has urged the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and other relevant agencies to wade into the hike in price and adulteration of petroleum products in Akwa Ibom.
The State Director of CHRAN, Comrade Franklyn Isong who made the call during the inauguration of the state executive of the organisation in Uyo yesterday regretted that these agencies have continued to keep blind eyes on the sufferings of Akwa Ibom people as marketers have pegged the price of fuel at N300 even with adjusted meter.
Isong lamented that apart from the hike in pump price of fuel, his office has been inundated with reports of many filling stations selling adulterated petrol which has resulted in damage of fuel pumps and engines of many vehicles in Akwa Ibom State.
He urged the DSS to extend the ultimatum it gave to marketers in Abuja to revert to government approved pump price to Akwa Ibom State and ensure that the ultimatum is complied with by petroleum marketers in the State.
The CHRAN State Director also urged the DPR to up its ante in monitoring the filling stations to ensure that they are not dispensing in adjusted meter or adulterated products.
He further called on the Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Petroleum Matters, Mr. Victor Etefia to live up to his responsibilities on ensuring that marketers comply to government prescribed price.
He wondered why no filling station has been sealed off or sanctioned for flouting government’s directives, recalling that previous Special Assistants to the Governor on Petroleum Matters were known for sealing off erring stations which in turn brought sanity into their operations in the State.
He queried, “where did we get this fuel price increase from? why are we buying a litter of fuel in Akwa Ibom N300 and above? I cannot understand where this is coming from. The pumps in most areas are adjusted and the fuel itself adulterated and nobody is doing anything about it.
“CHRAN is using this medium to call on the SSA to the Governor on Petroleum Monitoring, Mr Victor Etefia to rise to the occasion and address the people of the State on the matter.
“Let’s know why we are getting fuel at N300 and above per litre, what is the cause of it? Let’s know why the pumps are adjusted, we want to know why we are getting adulterated fuel in Akwa Ibom.
“Recall that in the days of former SSAs, they used to monitor filling stations to know what is happening there and any erring station would be sealed off. We are also calling on DPR a subsidiary of NNPC whose duty it is to check the malpractices of petrol stations to come to Akwa Ibom State to see what is happening here.
“We are calling on the DSS that issued ultimatum to marketers in Abuja that they should revert to the official pump price because, this particular increase is economic sabotage.
” We are asking the DSS in Akwa Ibom why they have not gone to check the pump price in the State. We are suffering, we are calling on the State government, the SSA to Governor on Petroleum Matters, the DPR, and the DSS to intervene as the suffering is untoward.”
Speaking on the lined up of activities of the newly inaugurated executive of the organisation, Isong said it would organize a town hall forum for all the governorship candidates in Akwa Ibom State, where each candidate will talk about his blueprint and how he intends to implement it if elected as governor of the State.
He also hinted that CHRAN would monitor and track all projects executed at the local government levels by the 31 council chairmen before their exit in order to know how the local communities are faring and draw government attention to where neccessary.
“We are going further to look at the local government and see how the communities are faring so also we will be doing with the House members. You can’t stay at the comfort of your home to know what the government is doing rather we have to go to the field.
“So CHRAN is going to give a good balancing to government because the State Governor cannot be everywhere at the same time, all we need in the State is good governance.
“We want the candidates during our town hall forum to speak to their manifesto and explain how they will implement the programmes and manifestoes.” He said.
