Zamfara filling stations sell petrol at N175/ltr, say we can’t run at a loss

Filling stations in Zamfara have increased the pump price of petrol to N170 per litre, as against approved N145 per litre, blaming it on the need to make profit.

The Kaduna zonal operations office of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had, last two weeks, sealed 13 filling stations in the state for selling the commodity above approved price.

A check by NAN, however, shows that only few stations in the state are selling petrol at approved price of N145 per litre.

Aliyu Usman, leader of the task force, Kaduna DPR zonal office, told journalists that selling the commodity above price was one of malpractices observed by the department in the state.

Usman said apart from price increase, “we also observed various malpractices such as hoarding and diversion of the petroleum products, under-dispensation and neglecting guidelines on safety of operational facilities in most of the stations.

“Based on our findings, majority of the filling stations are involved in one of two malpractices. We are going to continue with these inspections in Zamfara to ensure effective compliance by the marketers of the commodity.

“We will make sure that we put marketers in check because the consuming public are suffering and DPR will not continue to allow some unlawful marketers to make things difficult for the people”.

Reacting to the allegations, Sirajo Kamba, the chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Gusau Depot Branch, said that the major cause of the increase in pump price was the increase in price from the supplying private depot.

“Most of the filling stations selling the commodity beyond government official price are getting it from private depots and they don’t sell the commodity as directed by the federal government.

“Even the DPR is aware of the price changes from them, as mandated by law, DPR should monitor our business activities, it is also mandated to check the excesses of the private depot.

“We got the product between N139 and N140 per liter from the private depots against N133 as directed by the government and this is the major reason for the hike.

“And you know we cannot run at a loss. We have been calling on the Federal Government to investigate and address these issues,’’ he said.

According to him, as a result of the delay in supplying the commodity from government depot, the independent marketers patronise private depots which prices are higher than the government’s.