The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued a strong warning saying that 27,000 filling stations are likely to forfeit their operating licenses as the agency intensify efforts towards curbing diversion of petrol.
The DPR said it has commenced capturing all licensed filling stations into its database, for tracking and monitoring the lifting and disposal of products.
Speaking at a critical stakeholders engagement including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA)among others, in Lagos on Thursday, the Director of DPR, Sariki Auwalu, said out of 33,000 registered filling stations in Nigeria, only 6,700 have so far complied with the registration.
He warned that the remaining 27,000 stations not yet captured will have their licenses withdrawn by December this year.
Explaining the rational of the engagement, Auwalu, said the increasing petroleum products diversion is becoming worrisome, adding that Nigeria is losing much while ‘feeding’ neighbouring countries through illegal diversion.
To this end, the DPR has come up with a home-grown technology to track genuine outlets by assigning them unique numbers to make it difficult to divert products or to under-dispense.
The director also urged those operating illegally to present their facilities for capturing as, going forward, only those captured by the system can lift petrol from depots.
Similarly, marketers and industry experts expressed worry over the rise in consumption of petrol in the country, linking it to diversion and smuggling of products, which occur around border areas.
Earlier, representative of the chairman of the EFCC, Abdulkarim Chukkol, sought real time report from the platform for easy tracking of marketers.
Chikkol said as agency with the mandate to track economic saboteurs, it is important for all stakeholders to work in synergy to deal with the scourge.
On his part, the executive secretary of the PEF, Ahmed Bobboi, recommended technical collaboration between stakeholders for proper coordination.