BY CHIKA IZUORA, Lagos
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said it will not hesitate to shut down filling stations that are found to be hoarding fuel.
Director, DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, in a statement yesterday, said, sanctions await fuel marketers engaging in hoarding of petroleum products in their outlets.
Stating that the warning was necessitated by the emergence of queues in retail outlets in some states of the federation, he said, “From available records, there is product sufficiency in the country and there is no need for hoarding by any marketer. The DPR will not hesitate to apply appropriate sanctions on any outlet found wanting in this regard.
“The regulatory agency has set up a special taskforce to intensify surveillance and monitoring of all retail outlets and depots nationwide to check the anomaly.”
While advising the general public against panic buying, Auwalu assured them that the DPR would continue to provide its regulatory focus of quality, quantity, integrity and safety for the effective operations of the downstream sector.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has already clarified that the federal government is not contemplating any pump price upward adjustment this March, thus dismissing rumours and anxiety of such move.
The corporation has equally warned marketers and depot owners against illegal adjustment of petrol price and hoarding of products to create artificial scarcity.
The corporation dismissed speculations of imminent increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in the country, ruling out any increment in the ex-depot price of petrol in March, 2021.
