THE Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has sealed 14 stations in Kano and another eight in Osun State for selling fuel above the approved pump price.
The NMDPRA Coordinator in Kano State, Mr Aliyu Muhammad-Sama, during a monitoring and surveillance exercise on Thursday in Kano, said the authority shut the stations for dispensing fuel at N295 and N300 per litre and breaching surveillance for confirmation discharge and price regulations.
“We have strict regulations 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 nozzle so long as they are willing to revert to prices that are convenient 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.
His Osun counterpart, Mr Kunle 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 that the 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.
