FG: We’ll penalise filling stations selling petrol above N165 a litre

The federal government says it will penalise filling stations or depots selling above the stipulated approved pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS).

The development comes as parts of the country including Lagos and the federal capital territory (FCT), are currently battling fuel scarcity. 

Oil marketers had made a case for the increment of petrol pump price due to “hostile environment”.

Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer (CEO), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said this on Monday during a joint inspection of 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.

The fuel stations inspected were Shafa Energy, Shema, Ardova Plc and NIPCO fuel stations in Lugbe, Airport Road, Abuja.

He said the inspection aimed at taking action to enforce the regulations through follow-up warning against selling above the official price. 

Ahmed said the pump price of PMS is still N165 per litre and remained sacrosanct.

He added that the price of the commodity had not changed as the government had not made any other decision on it.

Ahmed, therefore, said the authority 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 overpricing at depots. 

He said as a regulator, there were a series of actions it could take including withdrawal of service from a particular depot, shutting down and penalising defaulters’ outlets, among others. 

According to him, the inspection was an ongoing exercise as the authority had seven teams going around different locations. 

He added that NNPC teams were also going around fuel stations with support from the security agencies.

“We are 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 service efficiency,” NAN quoted Ahmed as saying. 

“We are monitoring the depot sales also, checking the number of trucks that are 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.”

Ahmed said President Muhammadu Buhari recently increased the freight rate of transporters by N10, which was a huge jump from N10.46 to N20.46

“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 improvement,” he said. 

Ahmed said the action was taken to show that the transporters could still move the product across the country without loss of revenue — a concern transporters had raised. 

Meanwhile, he said the authority had advised oil marketers to warn their station managers to desist from selling the product to peddlers in jerry cans as it was one of the issues the sector was grappling with. 

 “Once they do not comply, we are going to shut and deal with that particular station affected,’’ he said.