Residents
of Anambra State woke up on Wednesday to another round of fuel scarcity
due to the closure of most filling stations in protest over what they
described as high levies imposed on them by the state government.
As a consequence, motorists and other
users of petrol resorted to buying the product from black marketers for
as much as N500 per litre.
A petroleum products’ marketer, Joseph
Nwakpadolu, told our correspondent that most of his colleagues closed
their retail outlets to protest the heavy levies imposed on them by the
state government.
He said the marketers had to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the levies and taxes imposed on them by the government.
Nwakpadolu said each filling station
owner was being asked to pay a huge sum annually, which he said would
kill their businesses if implemented.
He said the general meeting had become imperative after all efforts to get the government to rescind the plan failed.
“We met to discuss the high levies the
government has billed our businesses; they are giving us a combined bill
of over N500,000 per year exclusive of tax. Our position is that the
amount is high and cannot be sustained if we must remain in business,”
he added.
The Chairman, Petroleum Dealers’
Association of Nigeria, Anambra State chapter, Chief Osita Ofodile,
confirmed that the marketers were being asked to pay over N500,000 each,
which their colleagues in other states were paying.
No government official could be reached
for reaction because of the state’s Executive Council meeting that was
still going on at 5.30pm when this report was sent
No comments:
Post a Comment