By Our correspondent
The Anambra State Commissioner for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Anthony Ifeanya, has said the ministry has concluded arrangement to embark on an aggressive monitoring of petrol filling stations across the state.
Ifeanya said the state government was embarking on the exercise with a view to apprehending any filling station operators found to have tampered with their meters.
The commissioner stated this in Awka, the state capital, on Saturday, while warning perpetrators of such act to desist forthwith or face the full weight of the law.
It was learnt 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.
This was just as massive anger was brewing in the state as the pump price of petrol per litre has officially hit N970 in most filling stations across the state, while in some places, customers paid more to get the product.
Our correspondent went round major cities across the state on Saturday and observed that most filling stations were not dispensing the product, while the few ones dispensing were besieged by motorists and other users of the product.
As a result of the development, transportation fares have suddenly soared above 100 per cent as commuters now pay N300 for a journey that they initially paid N200.
Checks by our correspondent revealed that most filling stations operating in Onitsha, Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Obosi and some parts of Awka, sold above N970 per litre.
However, NNPCL facilities located along the Awka-Enugu Road and in Onitsha were seen selling the product between N820 to N850 per litre.
A customer at one of the NNPCL outlets located around Onitsha, identified as Chukwudi, said, “The price of the commodity has not been stable in recent times, it has been floating, when you buy N920 today, tomorrow they tell you it is N970.
