The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has threatened sanctions against private depot owners who sell the product above the Federal Government’s approved ex-depot price of N148.17 per litre.
The National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo disclosed this while speaking to newsmen in a telephone interview in Kano on Thursday.
He said the management of NNPC issued the warning after a meeting with the officials of the IPMAN in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to him, the NNPC had threatened to stop giving supply to private depot owners who continue to violate the order.
“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,” Okoronkwo quoted the NNPC officials as saying.
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He said the NNPC had also mandated the management of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to enforce the order by ensuring effective monitoring of private depot owners.
Recall that last week the IPMAN National President had accused the Management of NMDPRA under the leadership of Faruk Ahmed Maishanu of failure to check the excesses of private depot owners, which he said was responsible for the flagrant and indiscriminate increase of the ex-depot price.
He said since the Federal Government has not increased the fuel pump price, there was no justification for private depot owners to increase the ex-depot price.
Okoronkwo commended the NNPC for taking the necessary steps to check the excesses of the private depot owners and urged NMDPRA to ensure total compliance with the NNPC directive so as to return normalcy in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country
