Admin l Wednesday, January 11, 2017
ADO EKITI, Nigeria – Ekiti State Government has given owners of filling stations in the state seven days ultimatum to re-certify their stations or risk such premises being shut down.
The State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, gave the directive on Tuesday during a meeting with petroleum marketers in the state at the Government House, Ado-Ekiti. The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in a press release, quoted the governor as saying that all filling stations must also be adequately insured.
The meeting was a fall-out of Sunday’s fire incident in Ijigbo area of Ado-Ekiti during which many houses and shops were burnt. Fayose said any errant filling station would be shut down.
Also, the owner of the filling station gutted by fire on Sunday would be sued for criminal negligence when it was discovered that he only insured his pumps not the whole premises leading to a situation whereby innocent victims of the incident could not benefit from any insurance cover.
Fuel stations in the state are also to required train their workers on safety measures and the training will be conducted by the state’s fire service.
“Government will have to enforce regulations regarding operating business premises. The incident has caused pains on innocent people. We will implement regulations guiding setting up of filling stations. Politics has nothing to do with my actions and steps. We will re-certify sites of fuel stations and fire fighting equipment in such stations.
“Some staff of the station gutted by fire last Sunday did not know how to use fire fighting equipment. Operators of filling stations who refuse to be part of the re-certification will be sealed and the place acquired for public purposes. No building of new filling stations until further notice and all approvals not yet built before now cancelled,” the governor stated.
He added that henceforth, the Office of the Governor would now approve citing filling stations. The governor frowned at a situation whereby people engaged in business without complying with regulations and rules guiding such businesses.
The spokesman of the fuel marketers, Alhaji Sulaiman Akinbami, said his members appreciated the governor’s efforts but pleaded with more time for his members to comply with the directives.
A committee, that would conduct the re-certification exercise, is expected to start sitting on Wednesday and has seven working days to complete its assignment.
