Anselem Anokwute
The Executives and Management of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria IPMAN, Eastern Zone, has placed a disclaimer and condemned the allegations of unilateral imposition of illegal levies and extortion of money from their Members in both Imo and Abia State from the unrecognized Aba Unit Leaders in connections with the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), along major exit and entering points.
In a disclaimer letter from the leadership of IPMAN, Eastern Zone Chairman, Chief Lawrence Nworuh and Nze Julius Ugagu, the Public Relations Officer, stated that, it has come to their notice how certain group of individuals under the guise of IPMA in connived with the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) have been extorting the sum of Seventeen Thousand naira 17000k, from IPMAN members and non members alike amount to several millions of naira.
“We want to state unequivocally, that the , Eastern Zone Chairman and his Executive are neither in support of the illegal Levy, extortions and the criminality nor approved it”, ” Note that, all PTD loading levies are paid at the loading point and as such have no rights to contravene or collect additional levies along the road of the product dispatch State”
“You are therefore by this notice directed not to pay any Levy to the so called IPMAN/ PTD Joint Taskforce in all the System 2E State (Eastern Zone) mostly Imo and Abia State”. Chief Nworuh.
Fielding questions to Newsmen on his short visit to the State, Chief Lawrence Nworuh, said that some unscrupulous individuals want to catch into the system because of the past National misunderstandings between the leadership in which the side of the ,Mazi Oliver Okolo, the impostors of Aba Unit Depot Chairman lost both at the lower Court, Appeal and the Supreme Court respectively.
Chief Nworuh, Said that, he was surprised to hear that the self imposed IPMAN Chairman Aba Depot, Okolo and his cohorts are using the PTD Task force to imposed illegal levies on the Petroleum Marketers and called on the Marketers not to pay any dime to the criminal elements.
According to him the authentic Chairman of IPMAN Aba Depot Unit, just died recently, and was yet to be buried and after the burial the IPMAN National leadership will take decisions on his possible replacement or election of new leadership and not Mazi Oliver Okolo and his cohorts.
Imo Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria members, have been advised not to pay any dime to the criminals elements.
We are currently collecting details of the nefarious activities of the illegal extortions of Levy from our members and soon we will make an official statement and ensure that the perpetrators of the heinous crime are persecuted and meant to face the consequences of the extortions because it is an economic sabotage which has adverse effects on the economy of the State and the Country in general.
“I have officially issued a disclaimers on the illegal extortion of levies from the Imo State members of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, telling them to resist the payment of the Levy as it is unapproved and criminality amounting to multiple taxation, economic sabotage because the money for IPMAN and PTD are all paid at the loading bay”.
According to him, ” it’s wrong for the Purported IPMAN Chairman Aba Petroleum Depot Unit, Mazi Oliver Okolo to claim leniency on his actions to be Purportedly guided by the constitution whereas he is not constitutionally elected by the Association and will not be the Chairman as his faction lost at the Supreme Court and his group at the national level are currently coming to plead for reconciliations with the authentic National Leadership of IPMAN and he is in Aba Abia State causing trouble for them”. Chief Lawrence Nworuh said.