The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) North-west zonal office Kaduna has warned petroleum marketers against under dispensing, hoarding and selling petrol above government approved pump price belt of N161 to N165 per litre.
The Zonal Operations Controller, Kaduna, Malam Ahmed Rufa’i Shakur, whose operation covers Northwest states of Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, gave the warning after carrying out surveillance of some filling stations in Kaduna.
Shakur said defaulting oil marketers risk sanction, even as he stated that the current fuel scarcity situation in Kaduna state was as result of panic buying by motorists or the location of filing stations across the state. He added that there was no need for panic buying as there was enough petrol to serve the state and the zone.
He said the agency will not hesitate to sanction any filing station for offences ranging from hoarding to under dispensing of the product. He also assured residents that the DPR was doing everything possible to ensure petrol was available in every part of the state in order to clear the long queue in parts of the state.
“We are in a regulated regime. However, there is approved price for Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) and that’s why our men are out since Monday to ensure compliance with the approved government price and the second thing we are after during our surveillance outing is quality control.
“We have to ensure that the products being sold to members of the public are genuine. We don’t want adulterated products to be sold to members of the public. For us in our operational areas, we have been on top of the game and that is why we have very little incidences of queue and even where you have such queues it is as result of panic buying and maybe location of the filling stations,” he said.
