Fuel scarcity: NNPC vows to sanction depot owners for violating pump price

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has vowed to sanction private depot owners for selling petrol above the Federal Government’s approved ex-depot official price.

The National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Okoronkwo, made this known in a telephone with newsmen on Thursday.

Okoronkwo said the management of the NNPC has warned those who exploit the situation after a meeting with the officials of the IPMAN in Abuja on Wednesday.

He stated that the NNPC had threatened to stop giving supplies to private depot owners who continue to violate the order.

Okoronkwo said: “Henceforth any depot owner who continues to sell the product above the approved ex-depot price will be blacklisted and sanctioned as the government would not fold its arms and allow such unpatriotic depot owners to continue to exploit people.”

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According to him, the NNPC had also instructed the leadership of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to enforce the order by ensuring effective monitoring of private depot owners.

It would be recalled that IPMAN President recently accused the Management of NMDPRA of failure to check the excesses of private depot owners which was the main reason for increase of the ex-depot price.

He said since the Federal Government has not increased the fuel pump price, it was unacceptable for private depot owners to increase the ex-depot price.

However, Okoronkwo, who lauded the NNPC for taking the necessary steps to check the excesses to address the problem, urged NMDPRA to ensure compliance with the directive for normal supply and distribution of petroleum across the country.

The Star