The Federal government has threatened to sanction fuel stations or depots selling above the stipulated approved pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
The threat followed the persistent fuel scarcity being witnessed in the FCT and its environs as well as in other parts of the country.
The Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed, gave the warning on Monday during a joint inspection on fuel stations in Abuja.
The exercise was carried out in collaboration with some top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Petroleum Pipeline and Marketing Company (PPMC) and the NMDPRA.
Ahmed said the inspection aimed at taking action to enforce the regulations by following up warning given to the oil marketing companies, particularly those selling over the official price of N148 kobo.
He explained that the pump price of PMS is still N165 per litre and remains sacrosanct, adding that nothing has changed, as the government has not made any other decision on that.
The NMDPRA chief executive said they would take action against defaulters because based on its engagement with the Depots and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) and Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN), they were warned against over price at the depot.
He said as a regulator, there are series of actions it could take, including withdrawal of service from a particular depot, shutting and sanctioning them because nobody is above the law and we must enforce the regulations.
According to him, the inspection has been an on-going exercise; the authority has seven teams going round in different locations while NNPC has its own teams going round in many locations with support from the security agencies.
“We are actually trying to monitor the dispensing to ensure that all the stations with petrol are dispensing all their trucks to reduce the long queues and ensure efficiency in service.
“We are monitoring the depot sales also, checking the number of truck that loaded; this is a serious fact which we look at.
“There has been a lot of improvement in the distribution of PMS, we have gone round the Airport road and saw a lot of stations selling and discharging fuel.
“The queues are not long like before and the average trucks we have received in Abuja in the last three days are about 140 trucks against 70 trucks to 80 trucks received before; so there is a lot of improvement.
“Credit also goes to transporters because now they are reacting to the President’s offer of additional N10 as an incentive on their transportation charges. At least we are seeing the improvement,’’ he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the upward review in freight rate of oil transporters to alleviate challenges associated with PMS distribution nationwide.
The revised freight rate of PMS took effect from June 1, still maintaining the current regulated pump price of N165 per litre.
Ahmed explained that the president, in his wisdom, increased the freight rate of transporters by N10 which was a huge jump from N10.46 kobo to additional N10 and now N20.46 kobo
Ahmed said this is just to show that the transporters could still transport the product across the nation without loss of revenue which they were complaining about.
On black marketers, he said it is engaging key oil marketers and has advised them to warn their station managers to stop selling to jerry can peddlers because it is one of the causes of the problems.
“Once they do not comply, we are going to shut and deal with that particular station affected,’’ he said.
The Group Executive Director, Downstream of NNPC Ltd. Mr Adeyemi Adetunji, reassured Nigerians that there is adequate supply of fuel.
“Today we have 1.9 billion litres of PMS; Lagos is cleared in a couple of days; we will clear the queues in Abuja,” Adetunji added.
Fuel stations inspected were Shafa Energy, Shema, Ardova Plc. and NIPCO fuel stations on Lugbe – Airport Road.
Some of the motorists at the stations expressed excitement with the availability of fuel as against previous days and urged the government to sustain it to ease the queues and difficulties being witnessed.
The inspection also had in attendance Mr Isiyaku Abdullahi, Managing Director, PPMC, Mr Garbadeen Muhammad, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC Ltd. and Mrs Abdulkadir Maijiddah, Abuja Regional Coordinator, NMDPRA, among others.
– NAN