The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has sealed 22 stations for dispensing fuel above approved pump price in Kano and Osun states.
The NMDPRA Coordinator in Kano state, Mr Aliyu Muhammad-Sama stated this during a monitoring and surveillance exercise on Thursday in Kano that 14 stations had been sealed.
He said the authority shut the stations for dispensing fuel at N295 and N300 per litre above the approved pump price as well as breach of surveillance for confirmation discharge and price regulations.
“We have strict regulation to punish offenders which include revoking their licence of operation, sanction, payment of penalty and invalidation of transaction.
“For now; the sealed fuel stations will be sanctioned to pay N150,000 per pump nozle so long as they are willing to revert to prices that are convinient for the public,” he said.
He, however, said that major marketers were dispensing fuel at N185 per litre, adding that the authority had sealed over 120 fuel stations in the state in December 2022.
“For any station that refuses to discharge or sell above stipulated price we will invalidate their equalisation transaction.
“Invalidation is the authority that pays equalisation payment of N45 per litre for fuel they transport from Lagos or Porthacourt,” he said.
In Osun, eight filling stations were sealed in the state for allegedly selling premium motor spirit (PMS) above the government-approved pump price.
NMDPRA Coordinator in Osun, Mr Kunle Adeyemo, said this after the agency’s routine surveillance to filling stations in Osogbo, the state capital.
Adeyemo said that the surveillance was aimed at sensitising the public that the pump price of petrol, as approved by the Federal Government, had not changed.
He said that the surveillance operation would continue on a daily basis until all marketers within the state reverted to the government-approved price for PMS.
“We are out basically because prices of fuel are getting erratic and we are trying to tell the people that there is a specific price for petroleum and government has not changed it.
“We want to ensure that every filling station in the state adheres strictly to the official price of between N179 and N180 per litre,” he said.
Adeyemo said that the affected filling stations were sealed for selling above the official pump rice.
He said that the agency would continue to work round the clock to ensure that the masses were not in any way cheated by petroleum marketers.
The NMDPRA coordinator appealed to the general public to always report sharp practices by petroleum marketers at the agency’s office in Osogbo for appropriate action.
