By Ushang Ewa
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State has accused Cross River Governor, Senator Ben Ayade of frustrating residents through his introduction of a levy which has seen the downstream sector of the petroleum industry strike in protest of this.
This was contained in a statement issued by the state publicity secretary of the APC, Mens Ikpeme Thursday morning which said “Calabar town is as silent as a grave yard because of this one man made epidemics plaguing the state.”
The party alleged that the petroleum products “Distribution network structure has just been severely apprehended by Governor Ben Ayade to the disadvantage of the common citizen as Governor Ayade placed a tax levy of N12,800 per truck load of fuel product.”
The statement described the situation as a “raging nightmare” that residents are living with as it has “adversely affected the economy of the state leading to an unprecedented inflation in the charges of transportation, basic goods and services including foodstuffs.
“Transporters, because they are forced to buy fuel at exorbitant and expensive rate, inflate their fares to balance up.
“The increase in the cost of transportation of goods by traders has led to increase on the price of products offered in a bid to balance their books and they still end up with some semblance of profit at the end of the day at the detriment of the masses.”
The APC said car owners have abandoned their vehicles while black marketers sell a liter of petrol as high as NGN500 which has adversely affected health services and every other sector with food stiff been wasted due to the inability of residents to conserve such.
“All fuel stations in Cross River State have started to hoard fuel in other to make bumper profit by selling fuel at higher rates. Because they bought the product at official prices, they sell same as high as N500 naira per litre through the back door of their fuel stations,” the APC said.
It continued: “The people of the state are all at the mercy of the Governor’s mischievous attitude. The situation has left many commuters stranded, workers, women and children trek long distances to their various places of work, schools and markets, and in turn go to their offices etc late, as such the different sectors of the economic space are groaning under the weight of the fuel crisis, that has not only made life difficult for the masses in the state, but has also craved significant drop in human productivity, huge strain on the state economy as well as affected health and food security.”
On health, the APC said that “It’s left to the masses imaginations how patients in critical conditions, babies in incubators, and patients on life support system, accident victims, and pregnant women among others can survive, considering the absence and effect of fuel scarcity to power their generators.
“In fact we have reports there are situations whereby medical practitioners carry out medical procedures and surgeries using their cell phone torch lights or candles for illuminations.”
The statement tagged Ayade as “completely inhuman.”