The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has urged Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State to protect its members from illegal activities of government agents.
The body made the call at the end of its Annual General Meeting in Awka on Wednesday.
Chinedu Anyaso, the Chairman of IPMAN, Enugu Depot Community in charge of Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States commended Soludo for approving a harmonised annual levy for members but regretted that marketers were still being harassed with demand notices for questionable charges.
According to him, even though members paid higher in Anambra than other states under the zone, officials of the the Ministry of Petroleum Resources was still harassing them.
Anyaso said the Anambra Internal Revenue Revenue Services under Soludo had harmonised the levies and taxes which members were paying, but alleged that more illegal levies were being introduced by government agents.
“We discussed issues around our operations in Anambra and our relationship with the state government as well as the ministries, department of agencies under it.
“We agreed on N145,000 per year for every outlet which covers property tax, Business Premises, Local Government Council and Signage, but we are getting illegal demand notices from agents under this government.
“This is higher in other states under us, in Enugu those in rural areas are between N70,000 and N80,000 while those in the city centres pay N120,000 but here, it is flat for outlet, yet they keep harassing our people.
“Local government authority does not have business with filling stations but here in Anambra, our members are being dragged to court everyday because a lot of revenue windows have been given to consultants who know nothing about the petroleum sector.
“The ministry is introducing more charges including renewal of Petroleum tax apart from what we pay to the Federal Government even though our operations fall under the exclusive list.
“We are surprised that the representatives of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources did not come to interface with our members directly even though we invited them formally,” he said
Ikechukwu Nwankwo, Southeast Zonal Vice President also speaking, said Anambra was becoming a problem state for the union as most of the challenges came from the state.
He added that business was becoming harsh and less profitable and begged the state government to support marketers.
“We cannot continue to suffer this way, petroleum products business is no longer how it used to be. We used to lament when we were buying products for as long as N10 million but now, we hardly buy the same quantity with N50 million with far lesser margin.
“We are all private businesses, we do not want to do this but they are trying to push, we may have to shut operations for a while to get the attention of Mr governor,” he said.
Izukanne Chibuike, the Chairman of the Petroleum Dealers Association of Nigeria (PEDAN) in Anambra on his part regretted the incessant harassment of members by unknown agents.
Chibuike thanked Soludo for approving the harmonised levy and promised that his members would continue to support and cooperate with his administration through compliance with all approved taxes and rules of government.
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