The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Eket local government area field office, Akwa Ibom State, has sealed five Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) outlets for operating illegally.
Among those shut down, LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt, was the filling station owned by the state chairman of the Petroleum Products Monitoring Committee (PPMC), Obong Godwin Ekpo, for allegedly engaging in fuel racketeering, including product diversions and other unwholesome practices.
“The petroleum industry regulatory task force has the mandate of ensuring best practices in the sector but it has become worrisome and shocking, the discovery that even the head of the PPMC team assigned to police the sector was also involved in sharp practices, thereby compromising the integrity of the regulatory body,” one of the major industry players noted.
The state coordinator of NMDPRA, Mr Ikechukwu Eseka, who disclosed this to journalists in Uyo after a routine surveillance operation, warned that the law would take its normal course on the violators.
He explained that the filling station of the PPMC chairman was sealed “due to non-possession of an operating license and selling of products illegally since he does not have a license,” wondering where he obtained the product from.
