The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Black marketers

  • Fuel: Black marketers take over Ekiti streets

    Fuel: Black marketers take over Ekiti streets

    Ekiti State residents are at the mercy of petrol black marketers, who are capitalising on the face-off between Governor Ayo Fayose and oil marketers to make brisk business.

    The people, who buy the commodity from neighbouring states, sell to consumers at N300 per litre, as against the government regulated price of N145 per litre.

    The black marketers operate in front of Akure motor park on Ado-Ikere Road in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital and at Odo-Oja roundabout in Ikere-Ekiti.

    They also sell on major roads linking Ekiti with other states.

    Filling stations owned by marketers have been shut in the last three weeks, in obedience to the directive by the national secretariat of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other oil-based unions to protest alleged victimisation by Fayose.

    The marketers defied the governor’s order to reopen their outlets. He threatened to revoke their Certificates of Occupancy (C of Os) after 24 hours last Thursday.

    An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in the state, Mr. Kayode Ojo, has appealed to the governor to end the face-off with the marketers, to alleviate the masses’ suffering.

    He urged the national bodies of the National Union of

    Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and IPMAN to restore fuel supply to the state in the interest of the populace.

     

  • Discos to FG save us from forex black marketers 

    …Blames power outage on transmission constraints

     

    The association of Nigerian electricity distributors (ANED) Director of Research and Advocacy, Bar. Sunday Oduntan Wednesday called on the Federal Government to save the DisCos from the hands of black marketers of foreign exchange (forex).

    He urged the government to direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to give priority to the power sector operators in order to save them from purchasing dollars from the black market.

    His words: “we have been calling on the Federal Government to get the CBN to give us priority, so that we don’t have to go to the black market to buy dollar. So the one that is going on now, is beneficial to us. If dollar improves against the dollar it will benefit the DISCO’s”

    Citing an example with metering, Oduntan said that “we have about 2.9m customers yet to be metered ,and if you look at the amount of money required to do that even at the minimum of N53,000 per meter , it can be more than that now because of forex issue. If forex goes down it can still go below that 53,000 that means we need billions of naira to take care of that”.

    According to him, the government needs to do more to fix the power sector as that is the only way to fix the economic situation of the country.

    Oduntan blamed the constant power outage on transmission bottleneck, noting that areas like Apo, Central Area, Katampe and Gwagwalada are experiencing power outage, owing to defective facilities of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    Oduntan, however said that instead of simply blaming the situation on the TCN, he would rather urge the Federal Government to strengthen it for efficiency through sufficient investment.

    According to him, the Federal Government needs to urgently and critically support the entire value chain, in order to make the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) profitable or commercially viable.

    He said “N701 billion intervention fund is a good start but without a holistic resolution and details of how the intervention will work, we will not make progress, that is our reaction to that intervention. There must be a holistic resolution for the whole value chain from the upstream to downstream.so that for me in the downstream side of the sector, if I am buying a product at the rate of N68 and I am only allowed to sell it for N31.50,there is no way it can be commercially viable”. He added that the support needs to go down not just the GENCOs.

    He appealed to the general public to pay their bills, adding that electricity theft has remained one of the factors weighing down the efforts of the DISCos adding that the association appeals to the National Assembly to consider passing an anti-electricity theft bill, and create mobile courts to formally prosecute energy thieves.

    He called on the key players in the energy sector, to adopt “SCADA” a technology which according to him, can help monitor the activities of power facilities nationwide.

     

  • IGP orders arrest, prosecution of black marketers

    IGP orders arrest, prosecution of black marketers

    The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase has directed all Zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIG), FCT and other State Commands Commissioners of Police (CP) to arrest anybody found selling petrol and other petroleum products in plastic container.

    The Police High Command explained that the order became imperative following untold suffering and hazard emanating from the activities of black marketers.

    The IGP also noted that the act has led to fire outbreaks, thereby rendering many homeless.

    This is contained in a statement in Abuja Tuesday by the Force Spokesperson, Olabisi Kolawole.

    According to the statement: “…apart from the hardship this act is causing to fuel buyers, it has also rendered some innocent and law abiding citizens homeless due to fire outbreak from jerry-can petrol storage.

    Arase while warning fuel attendants at filling stations to desist from selling petrol inside jerry-can and plastic container added that the buyers and the sellers of the products if caught will be arrested and prosecuted under the law.

    He also noted that fuel products such as petrol are highly flammable and if not stored and handled properly, can seriously endanger people, property and the environment.

    The IGP who assured Nigerians of Police readiness to fulfill its constitutional mandate also solicited  for a cordial relationship between the Force and Nigerians.

     

  • Black marketers take over tickets sale

    Less than 24 hours to the 2014 World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Kenya’s Harambee Stars billed for the U.J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar, black marketers have taken over tickets sale within the stadium vicinity.

    SportingLife sources gathered that the most visible tickets currently on sale are for the Popular side. It was originally sold for N1000 but is now selling for between N1300 and N1500 depending on your bargaining prowess.

    However, those of the Covered Stands that were earmarked for N3000, now go for N4000 but are only provided to the would-be buyer on the special condition of advance payment.

    “I tried to get the match ticket from a sales vendor outside the stadium but he threw back my N1000 and demanded for N500 extra which I rejected,” a fan who simply gave his name as Jacob told SportingLife.

    Interestingly, Super Eagles Security Officer, ACP Gideon Akinsola has advised fans against buying tickets from non-listed

    “It is at your own risk to go to buy tickets from non-approved sales outlets as sales points have already been listed. I would like to advise those fans without tickets to please remain at home as they will not be allowed into the stadium,” the police chief told SportingLife.