Yenagoa—Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN), Hon. Bello Bina has called for the immediate reversal of the arbitrary hike in the pump price of fuel.
He warned that the arbitrary increase is a deliberate act of imposing more hardship on the people of the State.
According to Naijalivetv, Bina stated this in Yenagoa while commiserating with the over one million flood victims and displaced persons in the state.
Bina, a former Brass Local Government Council chairman, said though tanker drivers of petroleum products are finding it difficult to convey products into the state due to the damaged state of the East/West road, the petroleum marketers and owners of fuel stations should ensure available products are put on sale at the usual pump price to avoid more suffering in the state.
He called on the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Department of Petroleum Resources (NUPRC) to be proactive in the regulation of petroleum pump prices to avert the hoarding of petroleum products in Bayelsa.
Bina further called on owners of filling stations not to take unnecessary advantage in exploiting Bayelsans by hoarding petroleum products for unhealthy fuel scarcity.
He said: “I, therefore, wish to call on all relevant agencies like NEMA, Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Health and the Bayelsa State Government to step up their concern for flood victims in the State due to the untold hardship orchestrated by the flood on Bayelsans.”
“Thousands of families across the State are displaced with no proper medical attention, I advise all government agencies mandated to carry out various functions in ameliorating the plight of Bayelsans to do so in good faith and not taking advantage of Bayelsans by opening avenues for embezzlement and misappropriation of the funds appropriated for the sake of alleviating the plight of flood victims for their self-aggrandisement.”
Bina further called on Bayelsans to take advantage of his ongoing flood relief programme tagged ‘BELLO BINA CARES’ but advised that the gesture should not be politicized the
He thanked ex-agitator Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo with his pipeline surveillance team for complementing the effort of IPMAN in curbing pipeline vandalism and illegal oil bunkering in the State.
