Chief Patrick Eholor, founder of the One Love Foundation and a top figure in the Labour Party, LP, said on Thursday that no government official could scare them over a request to crack down on petroleum merchants selling gasoline above allowed pump pricing.

Eholor made the statement in response to Political Evangelist, a group led by Robinson Ahenoba and purportedly working for Rt Hon Philip Shaibu, the Deputy Governor of Edo State. Political Evangelist accused Eholor of inciting the populace of Edo against Shaibu and claimed that the Deputy Governor’s filling station at Airport Road, Benin City, had been sealed by a task force for allegedly selling gasoline above the approved pump price.

Eholor said: “They can no longer think positively for themselves, they came to town with half-truths and direct attack on my person, instead of addressing the issues I raised in my earlier comments.

“Nigerians and Edo State citizens expected Phillip Shaibu to come clean on the charges that he’s the owner of the said filling station at Airport road and that indeed he owned numerous filling stations in Benin City and across the State.

“Phillip Shaibu should tell Edo people the real owner of the said filling station at airport road since he is in government and the database of the owners of filling stations in Edo State should be known to him as the Deputy Governor of the State.

“The clarification is necessary because some petroleum task force officials were spotted in a viral video at the filling station along the airport road selling fuel above the official pump price long before the NNPC came up with another designated official pump price nationwide.

“The video clips of the task force closing down the filling station are in the public domain where his name was echoed repeatedly as the owner of the same filling station.”