Major transport unions in Ogun State have commended the administration of Dapo Abiodun for setting up the Special Task Force to monitor filling stations over alleged sharp practices.

They noted that the gesture will help their members get value for their money, even as they cautioned members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to stop their attempts to allegedly blackmail the government.

The state government had constituted a Task Force on Transport Control and Monitoring of Unethical Practices at Filling Stations to ensure that citizens are not overburdened with transport fares vis-à-vis excesses in the sales of petroleum products.

IPMAN last week threatened to withdraw fuel supply to the state, alleging harassment of its members.

The Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ogun State, Mustapha Adewale, popularly known as Yaro, berated the reaction of IPMAN over the activities of the Task Force, saying such a reaction is out of place and unbecoming of a noble association.

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He said instead of criticizing and threatening a showdown on the issue, the association ought to have investigated to ascertain the veracity of allegations of sharp practices among its members in Ogun State.

The NURTW boss noted that the ultimate rationale behind the initiative by the Ogun State Government was to protect the people from crude extortion in the face of the current economic hardship in the land, adding that the association must support the good intentions of the government to sanitize the system against sharp practices.

In the same vein, the Secretary of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Comrade Tiwalade Akingbade, also known as Paulo Rossi, criticized IPMAN over the development, arguing that there is no ground for their resistance to the activities of the Task Force unless they have ‘skeletons in their cupboard.’

Akingbade explained that the setting up of the Task Force was part of the frantic efforts of the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration to ease the burden of hikes in the pump price of PMS, ensuring that payment should commensurate with the volume of product and not the other way round.

He said that the government has done a lot to make life comfortable for the people and ameliorate the present economic predicament in the country through various interventions, including converting fossil fuel vehicles to CNG free of charge for many commercial drivers.