DPR threatens to sanction errant IPMAN members

NorthWest zonal office of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has warned members of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) against under-dispensing, hoarding and selling petrol above the government approved price of N165 per litre.

The zone comprises Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara.

The Zonal Operations Controller, Kaduna, Alhaji Ahmed Shakur, who gave the warning at a press briefing in Kaduna yesterday, explained that defaulting oil marketers would be sanctioned.

Shakur said the current fuel scarcity in Kaduna and environs was caused by panic-buying by motorists.

He added that there was no need for panic-buying, as there was enough petrol to serve the state and other parts of the country.

According to him, the agency will not hesitate to sanction any filling station for hoarding and under-dispensing of the product.

He also assured residents that the DPR was doing everything possible to ensure that petrol was available in every part of the state, to clear the long queue across the state.

The DPR boss said: “We are in a regulated regime. However, there is approved price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and that’s why our men are out since Monday to ensure compliance with the approved government price. The second thing we are after during surveillance is quality control.

“We have to ensure that the products being sold to members of the public are genuine. For us in our operational areas, we have been on top of the game, hence we have very little queue; even where you have such queues, it is as result of panic-buying and maybe location of the filling stations.”

Meanwhile, the DPR officials also went round Kaduna metropolis to ensure strict compliance with the regulated pump price of N165 per litre and check the availability of products to avoid scarcity of fuel across the state.

Most of the managers of filling stations visited by the DPR officials along Kachia Road and Sabol were ordered to open their underground tank for inspection.