By Jonathan Ugbal
The players in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry have called off their 72 hours long strike following an agreement with the Cross River State government to suspend the collection of the NGN12,800 levy imposed on petroleum tankers.
The Petroleum Tankers Drivers and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) met with a team from the government led by the commissioner for Finance, Asuquo Ekpenyong jnr. In Calabar, the Cross River State capital which had seen reduced commercial activity following the downing of tools by the tanker drivers and IPMAN.
CrossRiverWatch gathered that both parties agreed proper consultations were not carried out and decided to suspend the collection of the ‘road maintenance levy’, a statutory collection on heavy duty vehicles imposed by the state.
But, some fueling stations as at Friday morning were still shut down with findings revealing some are still shut pending sanctions from the taskforce of IPMAN which had shut them down for flouting the strike directive.
The Governor, Senator Ben Ayade had on Wednesday accused players in the downstream sector of deliberately frustrating government’s effort to increase revenue generation by resisting taxation which “they comfortably pay to other states.”