How Anambra LG Chairmen Broke Soludo’s Accord With Petroleum Marketers Over Greed
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Wednesday threatened to withdraw operations in Anambra with effect from June 12.
The marketers who made the resolution at an emergency general meeting said the action was to protest multiple taxes, obnoxious demand notices, incessant arrest, harassment, detention and extortion of members by Local Government Chairmen.
Before now, the marketers had an existing consolidated revenue agreement with the Anambra government which they said was approved by Gov. Chukwuma Soludo and members had been complying with, fully.
Marketers in Abamb complained that the Local Government Council Chairmen under the guise of asserting their autonomy, had been slamming them with outrageous demand notices ranging from N50,000 to N500,000 whereas all the bills they paid to the state government anointed N120,000 per year.
The leadership of IPMAN, Enugu Depot Community under the Chairmanship of Chinedu Anyaso upon getting the complaints tried to intervene but his effort was frustrated by the one Oforbike led LG Chairmen forum.
Anyaso who spoke at the meeting said he called Oforbike to schedule a meeting between his the LG Chairmen and IPMAN leadership with a view to harmonising grey areas but he failed to provide the platform for discussion.
“I called Oforbike, the LG Chairmen forum Chairman to call a meeting of his members do we can talk and after reminding him two times, he said the meeting cannot hold that marketers should pay whatever bill they give to them.
“It is a pity that these Chairmen want to rubbish the good relationship between marketers and Gov Soludo but we will not take that, Mr governor has to protect us and we have given an ultimatum for this to be addressed or we shut down operations,” he said.
The oil and gas industry stakeholders expressed regrets that the masses had become victims of the LG autonomy which they all fought for and look forward to.
Also speaking, Mr Greg Ezeilo, Chairman of Anambra Internal Revenue Service said the agreed the State Government had with IPMAN was still subsisting and that he was not aware of the arrest, detention and extortion.
Ezeilo said even though LGs under the law had right to collect some revenue, the constitution also provided that the state could collect all the revenues and remit 30 percent to the third tier.
He said he had spoken to the LG Chairmen on the need for harmonised system of revenue collection based on agreed terms but only one out of 21 local government chairmen agreed to work with his office.
He blamed the faceoff on the exuberance of the council Chairmen who wanted to assert their autonomy without proper understanding of the principles of fiscal federalism.
He however promised to Intervene and streamline the relationship adding that Soludo was interested in improving the Ease of Doing Business and not scaring investment away from the state.
